Brutal attack on rhino shocks even the hardiest rangers
14/04/2011 11:36:53
The rhino was shot several times. The attack was so brutal, most of the images are unpublishable.
Courtesy of Johnny Rodrigues - Chairman of Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force April 2011. Game scouts reported a severely wounded black rhino wandering around Save Valley Conservancy. Rangers were despatched to locate the rhino and were met with a horrifying and gruesome sight. The rhino had been shot several times by poachers and the horns had been hacked out.
Left for dead
They left the rhino for dead but the poor animal regained consciousness and was found wandering around, obviously in agony. Most of the photos are just too disturbing to publish.
Still alive
Vets were called in and as the animal had managed to survive the savage attack and was still eating properly, they decided to try and save it. They darted it and administered masses of antibiotics in the hope that the horrific wound will heal.
Already dehorned
Also of great concern is the fact that this rhino had been dehorned last year and the poachers were not deterred by the fact that it had only a small stump of horn. It has been recorded in the past that poachers will still kill animals with no horns, so they don't track them again. But in this case, the barbarity was carried out for the small remaining stump left over after dehorning.
Despite the obvious determination of the poachers, the authorities are reluctant to provide the conservators with suitable weaponry to protect these endangered animals.
ZCTF are truly heartbroken and devasted by this barbaric act.
To find out more, or to help them with their work, please click Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force. Please help them if you can.
Read the comments about this article and leave your own comment
Some of you defend the poachers saying they are just doing it for the money out of desperation, to feed their starving families. If we were to capture the poachers and give them skills and jobs then I think there'd be a lot more poachers waiting in line for a job. So I really don't see how that would solve the problem. Now killing the poachers (if the rangers are 100% sure the poachers are truly guilty of the crime) seems like a better solution to the problem. Maybe a public hanging? I think people would get the idea, you say their would just be another poacher waiting in line to take his place. But how many people would take such a risk?
Oh and saying that the rangers would be just as wrong as the poachers for sentencing them to death seems a little ridiculous, I mean the poachers are murderers! Either way, the solution to the problem starts with education....go tell all the village people if they are caught poaching they will be killed...how's that for an education? hahaha
The real root of the problem is of course the economic structure of the world, which stems mostly from the international bankers (END the FED) who control the world's money and resources. And since about 99% of the world's people are 99% motivated by money, the people in control of the money (bankers) have 99% control of 99% of the world.
Then the root of that problem has a lot to do with people's lack of awareness. Awaken your consciousness.
Posted by: Zach Hall | 29 Apr 2011 08:47:20
The poachers are doing this for the money and to provide an income for themselves and their families. If they are provided with another means of achieving the same ends they will no longer need nor want to poach. In India the Kalandars taught bears to dance by horrific means but as a way to raise money. This has been successfully stopped now by charities like International Animal Rescue who trained the Kalandars with another skill to raise an incme in return for handing over their bear. The same appraoch should be applied to these poachers- retrain them with another skill and educate them that keeping the rhinos alive and conserving them could be just as lucrative and beneficial to them and their families. Poachers would make the ideal game keepers- problem solved.
Posted by: Wild at heart | 28 Apr 2011 12:40:39
I've just returned from Zambia where I spoke to many wildlife authority scouts who help control poaching in Zambia's parks. Most of the so-called 'subsistence' poaching tends to be individuals desperate to feed their families. They tend to go mostly for antelopes and they eat the whole animal. Poaching here is being reduced by good anti-poaching patrols and also being backed by education. Education has got to be at the heart of anything being done about this issue locally. But how do you educate the people who are wanting to buy rhino horn? I think we all thought that dehorning would be a way to stop this. These sicking photos shockingly tells us otherwise.
Posted by: | 21 Apr 2011 11:55:01
Most poachers are living on the breadline and just trying to feed their family. Suggesting that they are all killed would be, aside from being illegal and equally as brutal, almost certainly counter productive. The main problem is the demand for the products, and the main criminals are the middle men and the dealers. Killing poachers will cause vast resentment in the communities that live around the game, and will do nothing to stem the demand for the products, or the supply of poachers. We need to turn the poachers into gamekeepers by providing them with employment based around live animals, and thus get the communities on side.
Powell Ettinger
Editor - Wildlifeextra.com
Posted by: Powell Ettinger | 18 Apr 2011 00:28:33
If all you had to feed your family was the means to track and kill these animals you would. Most of us have no concept of this. It's not the poachers fault it's the markets for these products that are to blame. If the markets were closed and the poachers re-educated & subsidized to foster environmental tourism and animal conservation what a wonderful world we would live in.
Suggesting we kill the poachers makes us no better than them and only creates an opening for the next generation to carry on the trade. The only people who can change this sort of thing are the worlds governments. Have they the will to do so? Probably not unfortunately.
Posted by: Paul Shaw | 17 Apr 2011 21:51:05
This horrific situation just gets worse and worse. Shooting the poachers is too god for them, they should be treated as they treat the animals they slaughter. Let them loose in the bush with skilled trackers after them, when they are found as they have no horns castrate them instead. Unless there is a strong deterent too many poachers will still go looking for easy money. It is well known that most of the ivory poached from elephants and rhinos ends up in China, Until either China does something to stop this illegal trade or an extreme deterent/ punishment is served up to those caught poaching this terrible situation will continue. A few years ago I was a volunteer at an animal sanctuary in SA when a call came in saying that poachers had been spotted. I asked if the poachers were found would they be shot. I was told that they could not shoot the poachers as this was against the law, but if the poachers were found to have dogs with them then the dogs would be shot. The South African government must ensure that any poachers caught are severly punished and do not get away with just a slap on the wrist.
Posted by: colin guest | 17 Apr 2011 13:56:05
I hope the rhino survives. I wish that there were no poachers on earth at all. How would they like it if the military shot them in the back hundreds of times. Tragic.
Posted by: jeff o mahony | 16 Apr 2011 21:38:34
The will of these wonderful rangers shows true compassion and dedication, as for the poachers, these low lives must be selling their ill gotten gains to someone! I agree they should be shot on sight!
Posted by: Maureen McGill | 15 Apr 2011 23:47:28
The will of these wonderful rangers shows true compassion and dedication, as for the poachers, these low lives must be selling their ill gotten gains to someone! I agree they should be shot on sight!
Posted by: Maureen McGill | 15 Apr 2011 23:47:28
I couldn’t agree more “Kill all poachers on sight” however they will only be replaced.
We need to educate the local people, that yes large amounts of money can be /are being the product once, to let them see to the true value to them, and the generation to come, there children, to the re sellable value of live wildlife from tourism, creating job and improving there standard of living not for one but for all.
Steve M Miller
Posted by: Steve M Miller | 15 Apr 2011 15:33:23
The "authorities" probably also receive some money, so they are not so interested in preventing this crime. People who have integrity and respect for life are in the minority.
Posted by: Researcher | 15 Apr 2011 15:13:45
I hope this poor Rhino survives and that it's wounds heal well. I'm amazed the vets can save it as it's injuries are truely horrific. Something needs to change here. Rhino horn is worth more than gold, and the black market still makes this awful practice worthwhile for the poachers, even for a tiny amount of horn. I wish I had a solution to hunting. If more poachers were employed as field staff/guides and/or had other means of income. Even with these options, the money they would earn from a legal job probably still wouldn't match what they get for rhino horn. My guess is that this is for the Asian market. Can this not be better controlled?
Posted by: Baulagirl | 15 Apr 2011 14:31:11
All poachers should be shot on sight. Why isn't the military used to help with this?
Posted by: brightthings | 15 Apr 2011 13:11:06