Poachers kill these animals, steal their horns and sell them on the black market

Apr 23, 2013 09:13 GMT  ·  By
South Africa stands to soon lose all its rhinos to poachers, conservationists say
   South Africa stands to soon lose all its rhinos to poachers, conservationists say

Back in 2012, South Africa lost a total of 668 rhinos, all of which were killed by poachers and stripped of their horns. By the looks of it, this species is not going to thrive this year either.

Long story short, there are several days to go until May makes its debut, yet 232 rhinos have already been killed by poachers in this part of the world.

Needless to say, these animals were slaughtered despite the local conservationists' and wildlife rangers' efforts to protect them.

This means that, should poachers be allowed to roam these lands freely, South Africa's rhinos would most likely become extinct in a matter of days.

According to Mongabay, the fact that 232 rhinos have been killed in South Africa since the beginning of 2013 and until present day means that an average of 2.1 such animals are slaughtered in this part of the world on a daily basis.

As conservationists explain, these figures need also be linked to the fact that, for the time being, South Africa is home to more rhinos than any other country in the world.

To put it bluntly: there is plenty of work for poachers.

Green-oriented groups maintain that, unless high officials in South Africa take appropriate measures to deal with corruption amongst the country's law enforcement officers, poaching will continue to be on the rise.

Conservationists also urge that the country institutes harsher penalties for those taking part in such illegal activities, the same source informs us.

In an attempt to keep poachers away from rhinos, some conservationists have taken up the habit of purposely poisoning these animals' horns.

The World Wildlife Fund and TRAFFIC are also trying to end poaching by curbing the global demand for rhino horns.

Thus, ads released by these two organizations make a case of how consuming rhino horns is no different from chewing toenails, which is why the practice cannot possibly yield any health benefits.