I don’t ordinarily watch the PBS News Hour weekend edition, but a couple of weeks ago for some
reason I had it on. And was stopped in my tracks by this report on efforts by Zimbabwe
and South Africa to stem the rhino poaching that is annihilating the dwindling
population of rhinos left in the wild.
There are some appalling images here of what the poachers
do—because all they care about is getting the horn, which they sell into the traditional
Chinese medicine (TCM) market. So they hack horns off of still-living animals,
and they kill mothers with calves; they are completely indifferent to anything
except the money they can make.
It’s clear from this report that, up to now, the poachers
have had the advantage; but there’s hope that the new cooperation between
rangers in Zimbabwe and South Africa will turn this around. Frankly, it’s a
little unsettling to see “park rangers” armed like paratroopers; but if it
helps stop the poachers one way or another, then there it is.
TCM practitioners still use rhino horn powder to “cure” a
variety of ailments, and it’s largely this complete load of bollocks that fuels
the market for the horns. I find it hard to believe that sentient humans still
literally buy into this massive lie, but it’s all too clear that their doing so
is dooming these magnificent beasts.
So, watch the video and remember: the only one who needs
a rhino horn is a rhinoceros. End of.
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