Rhinos
Many Asians firmly believe that with powder made from rhino horn, you can cure serious diseases. Nonsense, of course! But this makes rhinos a popular prey for poachers. Because there is also a lot of money to be made. The price for a kilo of rhino horn has been decreasing in recent years and costs on average about US$18,000 in Asia and US$8,500 in Africa. Fortunately, the number of African rhinos killed each year has been decreasing since its peak in 2015 (1,349 rhinos poached). However, it is still at least 1 per day.
Motherly alone. Two years ago I was invited by the manager of an animal orphanage in the Kruger Park in South Africa. There I saw firsthand how rangers brought in three-month-old orphaned rhino Kabelo on a wagon. Mother rhinos never leave their young alone, so presumably the mother was killed by poachers. And a baby rhino alone on the savannah is doomed.
Soldiers in tears. It was so sad to see that young rhinoceros. What panic and fear he must have felt! I got a lump in my throat and I saw that a few rangers had tears rolling down their cheeks. The veterinarian told me that Kabelo probably wandered alone on the savannah for 2-3 days. Without a mother, without food, without drink. He saw his mother being slaughtered and then he probably tried to drink milk from his dead mother.
Stop rhino hunting. This is a gruesome example of the consequences of wildlife crime. And worst of all, this is the order of the day on the savannah. And certainly not all orphaned rhinos are saved from starvation. Kabelo opened my eyes and he is the reason I set up the No Wildlife Crime Foundation. This has to end and soon. Because three rhinos a day being killed for their horn: we can't let that happen, can we?
