Sunday 30 October 2011

South African rhino crisis continues to escalate




Photo courtesy of wsilver, Flickr

South African rhino crisis continues to escalate

31 December 2011- Rhino poaching in South Africa continues to escalate, having reached record highs for the year. According to statistics from SANParks, by mid-December 2011, 435 rhino had been poached.

The issue is a complex and contentious one. Demand for rhino horn in Asia has resulted in South Africa being targeted, as it has the largest population in the world. The demand reportedly equates to about 900 horns a year and comes from a misguided notion about its healing and aphrodisiac properties, when it consists of nothing more than keratin – the same as hair and nails. Education would go a long way in dispelling the myth in Asian countries, but this would take years, and right now time is of the essence to prevent our rhinos’ extinction.

In a November 2011 article on the Abu Dhabi website
www.national.ae, it was reported that gram for gram, rhino horn is more valuable than gold, being sold for about US$60 000 per kilogram. Gold is about US$ 57 000 per kilogram and so the incentive for poachers is clear. The website says a poor Mozambican worker can earn R200 000 for a horn – what he would normally earn in a decade.

Many conservationists feel the only approach is to legalise the trade in rhino horn so that the animal is worth more alive than dead. Horns can be harvested without pain to the animals (they grow back), as well as be taken from dead rhinos. The procedure, which is regulated by the Biodiversity Act and requires a permit, involves a wildlife vet immobilising the animal and dehorning it humanely. The sales of these horns could be channelled back into South Africa to the tune of R800 million a year, according to Michael Eustace, a wildlife economist quoted on www.national.ae.

The many forms of poaching
Poaching has many forms making it all the more difficult to stop. Subsistence poaching is where poor individuals, also those living on the outskirts of a game reserve, need to poach only one rhino to gain financial security beyond their wildest dreams. Such poaching in Vietnam has caused the extinction of the Javan rhino.

The local organisation Stop Rhino Poaching says subsistence poaching has all but disappeared in South Africa where it has become a lot more sophisticated. Asian syndicates often hire highly trained hunters with state-of-the-art equipment and shoot rhinos with rifles or dart them from helicopters or vehicles. Many of these hunters can kill a rhino with a single shot.


Commercial poaching accounts for most of the incidents and poachers often come from a military background. Stop Rhino Poaching says their modus operandi is to stake out a farm or reserve to find out the location of the rhinos and then shoot them and hack the horns off with an axe or panga.

With vets, game farmers and well-known conservation figures having appeared in court suspected of involvement in rhino poaching, as well as working with Asian cartels, it seems South Africa is fighting a losing battle…

What are the solutions?

Many game rangers are under-equipped and not trained to deal with professional poachers. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency by the national parks. Meanwhile several game farmers have given up – they’re selling off their rhinos or refusing to buy any because the risk of them being poached is too great. If game farmers don’t keep rhinos, protect them and breed them, then all that’s left is for the game reserves to continue with this task and they have been particularly hard-hit by poachers.

Other game farmers have tried micro chipping their rhinos or using tracking devices, while sniffer dogs have been trained to pick up tiny amounts of rhino horn, but all of this unfortunately does not deter poachers. Stronger intervention is necessary. Aside from calls on social media sites for people to get involved in “rhino poacher hit squads” and other such radical groups, there are many organisations trying to make a difference in their own way.

The Kruger National Park, home to the most rhino in South Africa, recently announced it would not inform visitors of the whereabouts of these animals, as it had previously done via maps and noticeboards. The park believes that this has backfired by tipping off would-be poachers – it has lost 244 rhinos this year (at the time of going print).


The Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg has been working with researchers to investigate the controversial “poisoning” of horns on live rhino. Ectoparasiticides are used to control parasites like ticks on livestock and most of them are neurotoxins. When ingested by humans they can cause symptoms like nausea, vomiting and convulsions. The reserve feels treatment of rhino horn with an ox pecker-friendly version of this substance, plus marking treated horns with indelible dye to warn would-be poachers, would help protect rhinos and prevent them being poached in the first place.

The reserve explains that the dye also shows up when x-rayed at airport security, for example, even if the rhino horn had been ground into powder. Treatment is effective for about four years after which it would have to be reapplied. It is an affordable solution for smaller game farmers and the reserve points out that hunters would also benefit in that the rhinos will be protected until they are due to be professionally hunted in a legal and humane way.


The Palala Rhino Sanctuary in Naboomspruit, Limpopo, fills another gap by being a rhino rescue operation and rhino orphanage. It was launched in 2008 and registered as a Section 21 company in 2011.Comprising nine ladies and two men, they relocate rhinos in high-risk areas and private reserves, which are being targeted by poachers, to the sanctuary where the animals will be constantly monitored. They train rhino owners to better protect their animals and also find out when rhinos are being auctioned, and then raise the funds to buy them to prevent them from landing up with unscrupulous owners.

“When rhinos need a place of safety or TLC after being wounded, the owners bring them to us,” explains Purette van der Heever. Or if a rhino has been abandoned by its mother or orphaned due to poaching, the sanctuary takes them in. “We will go anywhere in South Africa to help a rhino in need,” she says. Rhinos at the sanctuary are protected by guards 24/7, who follow them around the farm. Their greatest need right now is for night-vision binoculars.

Palala has also been involved in the high-profile case of Phila the black rhino that was shot nine times by poachers on a Limpopo reserve and survived. She was taken to the Johannesburg Zoo to recover for a year and Palala has been campaigning for her return to the bush, which is now imminent.

The sanctuary says the solution to the rhino crisis in South Africa is complex and hinges on education: education of Asian countries, local role players and schoolchildren, because rhinos are part of their heritage. “We need to get our government to understand the urgency and the seriousness of the crisis,” says Purette. Government must support the cause and it needs to take a zero-tolerance approach towards any person from an Asian country that gets caught in South Africa with rhino horn.


“Private game owners need to join government to form a collaborative committee to ensure the law regarding rhinos is adhered to,” she says and suggests getting Dr Ian Player, Gary Player’s brother, to chair the committee. He is a conservationist who started Operation Rhino, which has resulted in a number of independent research papers. He also established an anti-poaching network in South African game reserves. “We at Palala often consult him on how to manage and run our sanctuary,” Purette says.

The international community has come out in strong support of South Africa’s rhino crisis by raising awareness in the media. A US animal rights group, the International Rhino Foundation, has launched a new programme called Operation Stop Poaching Now. It is currently attempting to raise around US$80 000 to train 300 of our rangers in intelligence gathering, evidence collection, rhino identification and monitoring. They will be equipped with crime-scene kits which include a camera, metal detector, a GPS system, finger-printing materials and evidence bags. According to the foundation, less than five percent of poachers are ever convicted, a travesty of justice for our rhinos.


Contact details:

Stop Rhino Poaching

www.stoprhinopoaching.com
elise@stoprhinopoaching.com

Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve
www.rhinolion.co.za
Tel: 084 689 4241, email: rhinolion@mweb.co.za 

Palala Rhino Sanctuary

www.palalarhinos.givengain.org
Tel: 082 4511 043, selomie@palalarhinos.co.za
International Rhino Foundation
www.rhinos-irf.org/


South Africa's 'Lion Whisperer'

South Africa's 'Lion Whisperer'

Johannesburg 2007 - A South African has made his affinity for animals his life. But the animals Kevin Richardson works with are amongst the largest and most dangerous predators known to man – lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas.
Kevin is an animal behaviourist and physiologist based at the Lion Park in Lanseria, just outside Johannesburg, which has been a conservation landmark for the last 40 years. He spends every waking moment with his ‘buddies’ as he affectionately calls them, most of which he hand-reared himself.
Kevin has loved animals since early childhood and dreamed of becoming a vet one day.

“Already as a kid, I had my whole life planned,” he says. “I was going to be a successful vet, make lots of money and retire at 30. But I didn’t get into vet school and I was horrified! How could they not accept a guy who loved animals as much as I did? But this eventually led me down a different path for which I’m grateful today.”
He went on to complete a BSc (with zoology and physiology) and began to work with humans in the field of pre- and post-operative rehabilitation. It was during this time that Kevin became friendly with one of his patients, Ian Melass, over their shared love for animals. About two years later, in 1997, Ian bought the Lion Park and invited Kevin to spend time with the animals.

“At first I’d work half-days with humans and the other half with animals, but soon the animals won and I became a full-time fixture at the Lion Park,” he says. His first ‘adoptees’ were a pair of six-month-old lions, who were brothers, called Tau (which means ‘lion’ in Zulu) and Napoleon.
When asked how he developed his talent to communicate with predators, especially lions, Kevin explains, “Talent comes from passion and when you are passionate about something, you excel at it. But the number one method I use is a combination of love, understanding and respect –unconditional love when it comes to lions. I also use the five senses because like humans, animals respond to touch, to the sound of your voice and to the things that they like. I communicate differently with each species, and treat each animal as an individual – just as we humans do each other.”

Comments Ian, “Believe me, it’s one in a million to have that ability – to have that love and also that nerve. Kevin has the guts to pick up a brown hyena. A brown hyena can bite through thick steel. But Kevin will pick it up and talk to it for a while. I couldn’t do that, and I wouldn’t want to do that!”
Predators, which are rescued and then released, or hand-reared and released are sadly often killed by their own, hence the need for conservation areas like the Lion Park, which also looks after rare species like the white lion. “It’s very important to keep the animals happy when you have them in captivity,” says Ian. “And one of the aspects of enriching their lives is training them and working very closely with them. So that’s Kevin’s role.”

Literally living with the animals for the last 10 years, experiencing them first-hand, has taught him things about them that can’t be found in books. He knows their personalities, their every quirk, preference and mood, and respects their limits in terms of the closeness they’ll allow. “What’s also important is that with all the animals, I’m near the top of the pecking order. You’ve got to be near the top. The moment they see you as a lower-order figure, they will challenge you more often.”
Kevin’s unique training and interaction methods have earned him such trust amongst his ‘students’ that he is able to sleep and swim with lions and hold newborn hyenas without being attacked. This is unheard of in the field of wild animal handling.

“I often get calls from people wanting to play with the lions after they’ve heard of what I do. But it’s a misconception that if the lions are tame, they are not dangerous,” Kevin says. “Although predators that have been hand-reared engage with humans, their instincts can’t be ‘unlearnt’ and they will always be fundamentally wild and unpredictable. It’s important for people to understand that.”
Hence, he relies heavily on his own instincts to gauge an animal or situation, and will not approach a creature if something doesn’t feel right. “You can never be too confident. Lions and leopards have been known to turn on their human ‘friends’ for no apparent reason, so the element of danger is always there.”

Kevin learnt a valuable lesson in his early days after one close call with a lion, which he attributes to inexperience and miscalculation. “I was still feeling my way with the animals when
this lion, about four years old named Savo, was brought in. I had not reared him and knew very little about him, but I felt sorry for him. I went in the enclosure, but on this particular day, I was feeling uneasy. He looked at me like he’d never looked at me before and suddenly he ran at me.

"He then reared up on his hind legs and smacked me across the face, causing a nosebleed. I submitted to him immediately and lay on my back. He pinned me down on the ground and started to bite me in various places, but the bites were interesting… he would apply pressure and see how I was reacting. I started pushing his skin in his mouth so he was actually biting down on his own flesh and he eventually saw he was not getting anywhere, so he just stood above me.”

After this incident, Kevin realised
that trying to make friends with a wild, adult lion that he didn’t know was asking for trouble. Now his cut-off age is 10 months to a year, where it is still possible to accustom a lion to humans. However, he is quick to point out that all predators are different and tells the story of a wild adult hyena that was brought to the Lion Park, which he managed to tame until she actually licked his hand.

Kevin uses his talent predominantly for conservation and dispelling myths and negative perceptions about lions and hyenas. He wants people to know that they do actually show feelings, have their own characters and are able to develop a special bond with man. And as part of educating the public, Kevin has been making documentaries in which he is recording as much of the animals’ behaviour as possible.

The predators that Kevin works closely with – a select group of about 10 that he is able to ‘trust’ – are intended to be ambassadors of their species for the visitors to the Lion Park. And close to his heart is educating children about conservation, especially those from disadvantaged communities. “Youngsters should be made aware of the need for conservation as early on as possible. But usually they only get to see animals in zoos and it’s difficult for them to relate to them or to be inspired to conserve them. At the Lion Park, the kids can experience all the predators up close and watch me interact with them. Seeing their playful natures and their beauty, without the barrier of cages, helps them relate to the animals on a different and much deeper level. This encourages them to love the animals and want to protect them.”

Kevin confirms that he is involved in a new conservation project called the Kingdom of the White Lion, which should be open to the public in the first quarter of 2008. It will be situated halfway between the Lion Park and Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West province, and will focus exclusively on the preservation of the white lion – a species only recently been brought back from the brink of extinction.

Lion Park contact details:
Tel: 0861 LION 00 / 0861 546 600
Email: lionpark@cknet.co.za




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