We will be able to verify their legitimacy.”īut experts say that even the most admirable efforts to combat the problem cannot be perfect, comparing such campaigns to games of “whack-a-mole,” where when one poaching tactic is defeated, another emerges somewhere else, or in another form. South African government spokesperson Peter Mbelengwa remarked, “As part of the cooperation between the two countries, Vietnam is going to provide us with a list of accredited trophy hunters. The two governments will also focus on stopping poachers who obtain hunting permits under false pretenses by masquerading as trophy hunters. Initial steps will include setting up a gene bank and DNA analysis training to better track horns that are taken by poachers. Vietnam has now announced it will cooperate with South Africa in order to strengthen the crackdown. Two rhino horns were recently seized by customs officials the substance had most likely come from South Africa, and was worth an estimated $365,000. ![]() ![]() There are reports, however, of a recent crackdown on poaching in Vietnam, including the sales and trading of the ill-begotten horns, of which both Vietnam and China are large consumers. Poachers have capitalized on this superstition and dehorned thousands of the animals in multiple countries – even in national parks. The animals are coveted in certain countries due to the false belief that their horns can cure or fend off cancer. There are only an estimated 29,000 rhinos remaining worldwide. Though other Javan rhinos probably live elsewhere, that species is expected to face extinction next, if the situation does not change. The World Wildlife Fund said that what is believed to be the last remaining Javan rhino in Vietnam was killed by poachers in 2010 it had been found dead with a bullet in its leg and its horn removed. In addition to lack of protection, poaching plays a major factor in the dwindling rhinoceros population. Jane Smart, director of the IUCN’s global species program, added, “We have the knowledge that conservation works if executed in a timely manner yet, without strong political will in combination with targeted efforts and resources, the wonders of nature and the services it provides can be lost forever.” “These measures must be strengthened now, specifically managing habitats in order to improve performance, preventing other rhinos from fading into extinction.” ![]() “The situation could have had very different results if the suggested conservation measures had been implemented,” said Simon Stuart, chair of the IUCN species survival commission. The black rhino had not been seen in West Africa since 2006, and had been on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species since then. After being a victim of increasingly devastating poaching and seeing little to no conservation efforts, the species is now gone, and others – including the northern white rhino and Asia’s Javan rhino – are expected to swiftly follow unless efforts to stop the senseless killing of them prevail. There were a few slivers of good news showing that species can be prevented from slipping into oblivion.According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Africa’s western black rhino is now officially extinct. "In the case of both the western black and the northern white rhinos the situation could have had very different results if suggested conservation measures had been implemented." "Human beings are stewards of the earth and we are responsible for protecting the species that share our environment," Simon Stuart, head of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, said in a statement. The new assessment shows that a subspecies of the western black rhino ( Diceros bicornis longipes) native to western Africa is now extinct, joining a long list of creatures - from the Tasmanian tiger to the Arabian gazelle - that no longer stride the planet.Ĭentral Africa's northern white rhino ( Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is listed as "possibly extinct in the wild", while the Javan rhino ( Rhinoceros sondaicus) is making a last stand after the remaining specimen of its Vietnamese counterpart was killed by poachers last year.
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