Intl Rhino Foundation Articles RSS Feed

Dogs to Sniff Out the State of Vietnam's Critically Endangered Rhinos

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Vietnam – Highly trained detection dogs are being used help to determine the population status of the Javan rhino in Vietnam, in an attempt to save one of the world’s rarest mammals from extinction.

WWF researchers have teamed up with national park rangers using two detection dogs from the United States to determine the population status of the Javan rhinos in the forests of southern Vietnam, home to one of the world’s last two remaining populations of the species.

Javan rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) were thought to be extinct on mainland Southeast Asia until hunters in Vietnam killed an individual rhino in 1988. It is believed less than ten remain, but no conclusive survey has ever been conducted to verify this.

“The Javan rhino is possibly the rarest large mammal on Earth,” said Sarah Brook, leader of the WWF rhino project in Vietnam. “This field survey aims to reveal the secrets of Vietnam’s little known Javan rhino population in an effort to save it from extinction.”

Samples of the dung will be sent to Queen’s University in Canada where DNA analysis will detect the sex and number of animals. The Zoological Society of London will carry out a hormone analysis to show the animal’s breeding capability.

After just five days of surveying the area, seven rhino dung samples have been found. These specimens have given the project team confidence that they will be able to gather all the necessary scientific information. The results of these analyses will be used to formulate an urgent rhino conservation plan.

“The rhino is not only a rare animal unique to this country, but protecting the rhino is a flagship for conservation efforts in Vietnam,” said Hien Tran Minh, Country Director for WWF Vietnam. “If we lose the rhino the future does not look good for Vietnam’s other rare and endemic species.”

The Javan rhino is a highly valued commodity in the illegal wildlife trade, with the rhino horn, skin and faeces used for medicinal purposes. Habitat encroachment from agricultural expansion and planned hydropower development also pose increasing threats to this small population.

To improve protection for rhinos and other wildlife threatened by poachers, WWF in collaboration with the Asian Rhino project is supporting local communities to join the Forest Protection Department and national parks staff.

‘Rhinomania’, a blog written by the WWF team, will keep the public up to date on the rhino survey as well as on life in the national park.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

20-Nov-09 2:00 PM

Evidence of One-horn Rhino in Vietnam

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

After five days, the dogs found seven samples of rhino feces which can be examined for further information about the animals.

The forests are home to one of the two remaining species of one-horn rhino in the world.

One-horn rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) were considered to be extinct in Southeast Asia until a rhino was killed by a hunter in 1988. The number of one-horn rhinos in the world is estimated at less than 10. However, official statistics are unavailable.

Sarah Brook, director of the WWF’s rhino project, said that the one-horn rhino is among the rarest big mammal species in the world. The survey in Vietnam aims to discover the secrets of this animal in order to protect them from extinction.

Feces samples will be sent to the Canada’s Queen University for analysis to define the sex and numbers of rhinos. A zoological organisation in London, UK will analyse hormones to check the reproductive ability of the species. The analysis will be used as part of an urgent plan to preserve one-horn rhinos.

Tran Minh Hien, director of the WWF Vietnam said: “Preserving rhinos in Vietnam is not just about it being the rarest species in Vietnam. It is also the biggest symbol in preservation work in Vietnam at present. If we lose this species of rhino, other rare and endemic species of Vietnam will also face future danger.”

Rhino horns, skin and feces are used for medical purposes so the one-horn rhino is a target for hunters. In addition, agricultural expansion and development of hydropower plants harms their environment.

It is possible to follow the progress online via: www. rhinomania.blogspot.com

20-Nov-09 2:00 PM

Rhino Rendezvous Is Back!

noemail@rhinos-irf.org — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:29:53 GMT

View more photos of White Oak Conservation Center here.

Looking for that perfect holiday gift for the family (or group of friends, or corporate team) that wants to help save rhinos? How about a 4-day, 3-night safari to see (and protect) some of the world’s most endangered species? And, you don’t even need to dust off your passport!

For the second year, IRF is pleased to offer Rhino Rendezvous, a truly unique opportunity usually reserved for the world’s foremost scientists, global and corporate leaders, and select members of the White Oak Conservation Center Foundation. And, it’s all yours … for the winning bid. Just go to www.rhinosirf.cmarket.com by December 15th and place your bid on this remarkable and memorable expedition, valued at $25,000. The winner will be announced December 16th.

This unique package, Rhino Rendezvous, is a rare opportunity to spend 4 days, 3 nights at IRF’s headquarters at White Oak Conservation Center, just north of Jacksonville, Florida. This unique and exclusive 7,400 acre reserve is closed to the public and is home to hundreds of rare, exotic and threatened wildlife like giraffes, tigers, cheetahs, Florida panthers, zebras, Komodo dragons, and okapis - just to name a few. And, it’s the only place in the world where four of the five rhino species can be seen!

You’ll have an opportunity to get up-close-and-personal and behind the scenes with the Center's animals. You’ll stay in a spacious, uniquely-appointed guest lodge with museum-quality artwork and antiques, have a chance to participate in an array of incredible recreational activities, enjoy private gourmet meals, and much, much more. From the moment you land at the Jacksonville airport, every need and detail will be anticipated and attended to.

Every day, more and more rhinos are being lost to poaching, forest loss, habitat conversion and humans invading their habitat. The IRF wants to make sure that the five rhino species survive well into the future. Your wining bid – and tax-deductible donation to IRF – will help save rhinos and ensure that these gentle giants are around for future generations!

Visit our auction site today to learn more about Rhino Rendezvous or to place your bid!

To learn more about IRF’s efforts to protect endangered rhinos around the world,
or to make a donation, please visit www.rhinos-irf.org.

Stay up to date with our RSS feeds.

18-Nov-09 8:29 AM

Rhinos De-Horned to Stop Poaching

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Three black rhinos at Imire Safari Park have been dehorned in order to prevent them from being killed by poachers. Imire has four black and two white rhino, and all but one baby have now been dehorned. An estimated 200 rhino have been killed by poachers in the last three years.

MARONDERA – In August 2007: Imire lost three of their rhinos. Even though they had been dehorned, they were brutally killed by poachers. It has been speculated that the poachers were not aware that the rhinos had been dehorned. However, they managed to cut off the male rhino’s stub of horn, so some believe that the massacre of these dehorned rhinos was a politically motivated act, and that the poachers were fully aware that these rhino did not have horns but went out and killed them anyway.

Another theory is that poachers have now resorted to killing off rhinos for the sake of being able to cover more ground when it comes to poaching. That way they can keep track of the rhinos that are still alive in certain areas and can then condense the margin they have to cover when poaching. Zimbabwe has become a hot spot for rhino poaching, and with the demand for rhino horns ever increasing from the Asian market, the question remains; how can these relentless poachers be stopped? Dehorning is one solution, as it stops giving poachers a reason to kill these animals. The Rhino are sedated, a qualified vet is brought in, and the horn is literally sawn off. They suffer no pain, and are back on their feet in a matter of minutes.

However the act of dehorning has been quite a controversial topic, with the main argument being that rhinos use their horns for grazing, and for protection in the wild. If the animals are dehorned it may affect their entire social behavior. Reily Travis, who has lived on Imire his entire life, and runs the volunteer programme on the farm, thinks that there is another way
that Zimbabwe can save the rhinos and their horns. He explained that it costs in the region of US$200,000 to capture and re-release rhinos into safer areas, and to dehorn them. He believes this money should rather be used on a tracking system. This involves a UV-based chip being implanted in the rhino’s horn – giving 24 hour surveillance.

“The process of dehorning has been going on for 10 years and unfortunately has not made a big enough impact. The rate of poaching still doubles each year,” explained Travis. Another point that Travis made, was that if these rhino did have chips in their horns, they could then also track where and how these horns were being smuggled out of the country. This would hopefully lead to exposing the culprits that are involved in these illegal dealings. He added that the money used for capturing and dehorning the rhino could also be channeled towards National Parks employees, who he thinks have lost motivation because they are not being given enough incentive and do not have enough equipment to protect these animals “It is so important to keep the people on the ground happy because they are, at the end of the day, putting their lives on the line to ensure the safety of these rhinos,” he said.

South African conservationist, Michael Eustace told the South African TV show, Carte Blanche, recently that the solution to the poaching problem was to flood the market. He estimated that the revenue could be up to US$90 million per annum. By flooding the market, the price of the Rhino horn comes down, which means that the act of poaching these rhinos becomes less attractive. National Parks have obtained an estimated 40kg of horns which could be used to flood the market. However Travis disagrees, saying that the market will only keep

growing and eventually Zimbabwe will not be able to meet the demands of the consumers, and the poachers will return. He also argues that legalizing the sale of rhino horns would have to be a national effort in which all parties concerned would have to undertake the dehorning and legal sale of the horns. With the high level poaching syndicate that exists in Zimbabwe, it is unlikely that the selling of these horns would remain above board.

18-Nov-09 8:00 AM

Kenya: Row Over New Move to Allow Ivory Trade

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Nairobi — Kenya is opposing a move by Tanzania to reintroduce the sale of ivory, saying it will increase elephant poaching in the region.

The Kenya Wildlife Service says Tanzania is taking advantage of a "malicious loophole" and proposing the sale of ivory during an international moratorium.

"We are convinced Tanzania has contravened the spirit of the (moratorium) agreement and Kenya is totally opposed to their proposal to sell ivory," said Mr Patrick Omondi, a KWS senior assistant director.

However, Tanzania's director of Wildlife Erasmus Tarimo disagrees and says they are following the agreements currently in place.

"We're doing what is best for our elephant population," he said in a phone interview, adding that revenues from the sale would go towards elephant conservation.

Ivory trade has been closely regulated since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species imposed a worldwide ban in 1989. The number of African elephants had dropped from 1.3 million in 1973 to less than 500,000, due mainly to poaching, when the ban was put in place. Kenya has about 35,000 elephants.

Tanzania's proposal to down-list the African elephant from Appendix I (facing extinction) to Appendix II (less threatened) is joined by Zambia which has submitted a similar proposal of their own.

Kenya is not alone in the opposition to this sale. Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Mali, Rwanda, and the Republic of Congo are co-sponsors of the proposal on behalf of 21 other nations that support it, said Mr Omondi.

What concerns the KWS is not just that Tanzania will be selling instead of burning their stockpiles, but that they did not consult Kenya in spite of shared elephant populations.

17-Nov-09 2:00 PM

Yemen's Curved Dagger Sheathed by Time

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Yemen's curved dagger is not as widely used as it once was. Photo: AFP "It will soon be the end of the jambia," bemoans Khaled al-Saikal, an antiques dealer in the souk of the Old City in Sanaa whose windows are brimming with precious and less precious versions of the jambia, or curved dagger.

Saikal has been in the trade for the past 25 years and says he has overseen the gradual decline of what is seen in traditional Yemeni society as "the symbol of the pride of Yemeni men".

Dating back centuries to the pre-Islamic era, as depicted in bas reliefs, the Yemeni dagger is used for self-defence and in traditional dance, in which men waving it over the head as they spin.

"What makes a jambia valuable is the handle, with those made of rhinoceros horn the most precious. And its age," explains Saikal.

Under international pressure due to the convention on international trade in endangered species, Yemen announced last summer that it has placed a ban on such imports for the past two years.

An old jambia crafted by a top artisan can be worth a fortune.

In June the official daily Al-Jumhuriya put an estimate of $1 million (£595,000) each on two jambias owned by the country's most senior tribal chiefs, Sadek al-Ahmar and Naji Shaef.

Their weapons were taken from Imam Yahia, the last sovereign of Yemen when he was overthrown in a republican coup in 1962.

The third most prized jambia in the Arabian peninsula state belongs to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, according to the newspaper, but its origins and value have not been disclosed.

The jambia, worn on an embroidered belt, indicates social rank, profession and tribal origins. It also denotes local origins, with a sharp curve for eastern Yemen but an almost straight blade in the north.

The pointed sheath can indicate whether the bearer belongs to a socially elite family of judges or is a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed.

Poor examples of the jambia fill artisan and repairman Abdel Karim al-Barawi's tiny workshop in the Sanaa souk, where he uses plastic to create the handle.

"Blocks of plastic imported from China started to flood the market a year ago," he said, adding that some of the best models have fetched good prices despite the use of plastic.

"But some local manufacturers were up in arms and, here, imports are banned for the plastic used to carve the handles," he said.

Barawi also said the jambia business was facing tough times, not least because many young Yemenis have not inherited the passion. "You can't wear a jambia over trousers," he says, referring to the fact that the Western garment has been overtaking the traditional sarong.

Several different crafts depend on the jambia.

The blade is made from an alloy of metals, the belts are expertly embroidered, jewellers design and decorate the handles, while the sheath also has to be carved, sometimes in gold.

In tribal areas, a strict code governs the use of the jambia.

"During a dispute, touching the handle signals bellicose intent, pulling it half out is the equivalent of starting an attack," says Abdul Salam Kehili, an authority on the subject from eastern Yemen.

"Once brandished, blood is spilt and the parties involved have to go before a tribal council, which decides on compensation to be paid by the side which is considered to be an aggressor."

17-Nov-09 12:00 PM

L.A. Zoo Rhino Completes New Skin Cancer Treatment

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 GMT

An Indian rhinoceros has successfully completed treatment for skin cancer, Los Angeles Zoo officials announced today.

Zoo veterinarians worked closely with oncologists from UCLA Medical Center to administer a treatment to Randa designed to deliver electronic, X-ray-based therapy directly to cancer sites with minimal radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue.

The treatment -- Axxent Electronic Brachytherapy or eBx -- has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for accelerated treatment of early stage breast cancer, skin cancer and endometrial indications. It was developed by Xoft Inc.

Zoo veterinarians were able to treat Randa, a 40-year-old, 4,000-pound Indian rhinoceros recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma under her horn, in her own habitat because the eBx treatment does not use a radioactive isotope and can be performed without the need for a lead shielded room.

"We are very happy with the outcome of Randa's cancer treatment and her recovery," said Lea Greer, Randa's primary veterinarian. "After the treatment sessions were completed, (Randa) quickly returned to her normal attitude, acting years younger and entertaining zoo visitors."

Xoft president and Chief Executive Officer Michael Klein said "it is very gratifying that advancements in treating cancer in people can now lead to improvements in animal care as well, at the zoo and in general veterinary practices."

Dr. Michael Steinberg, who chairs UCLA's radiation oncology department, said the eBx treatment has recently begun being used at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

17-Nov-09 11:00 AM

Poachers Kill 65 Elephants, 30 Rhinos in Zimbabwe: Official

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:00:00 GMT

HARARE - An international crime syndicate is behind an escalation in poaching in Zimbabwe which has slaughtered 65 elephants and 30 rhinos this year, a wildlife official said Monday.

"From January to October this year we have lost 65 elephants through poaching," Vitalis Chadenga, operations director of the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority told journalists.

"In the same period we have lost 24 black and six white rhinos. It is true that we have witnessed an escalation of poaching nationwide, particularly on private farms."

The black rhino is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the white rhino is categorised as "near threatened."

"We do have a group of international gangsters, who are funding poachers around this part of the world and taking away many horns and it is a major problem," Chadenga said.

He could not provide numbers from last year, but said poaching was on the rise.

"We have arrested 2,500 poachers in the same period, ten poachers have been shot dead since the beginning of this year," Chadenga said.

Zimbabwe has a population of nearly 100,000 elephants, which Chadenga said has been growing over recent years, and is banned from international ivory trade.

The southern African nation has 26 tonnes of ivory in its stocks and four tonnes of rhino horns.

Last year, Zimbabwe auctioned four tonnes of ivory to buyers from Japan and China getting 487,162 dollars (380,268 euros). During the same period, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa sold a total of 102 tonnes of tusks.

The four countries are home to 312,000 elephants, and their government stocks of tusks came from natural deaths or the culling of herds to keep the population under control.

16-Nov-09 1:00 PM

Prehistoric Rhinos Roamed in Mexico, Say Scientists

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 GMT

Mexico City, Nov 13 (EFE) The rhinoceros fossils kept in a museum in western Mexico belonged to an ancient rhino species called Teleoceras hicksi that lived more than four million years ago, scientists have said.
The fossils were found in the Jalisco state in the 1960s and preserved at the Regional Paleontology Museum in the state capital Guadalajara.

“When we learned that nobody had studied the fossils, we took the initiative and today we’re describing for the first time a species that had been identified only in the US, lead researcher Ruben Guzman Gutierrez told EFE Thursday.

Remains of the species had been found to date in Nebraska, Colorado and Texas in the US, but never in Mexico, until these fossils were located in Jalisco’s Tecolotlan region.

Guzman, chairman of the Paleontology Department at the Tourism Secretariat for Aguascalientes state in central Mexico, said the fossils were found in the late 1960s in Tecolotlan.

In the 1970s, the fossils were displayed for the public “without any type of designation pertaining to the species”. Now it has been determined to what species the fossilised bones belong, an official of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) said.

“Teleoceras hicksi had amphibian habits. It lived in areas with a humid tropical climate and ate grass,” Guzman said.

The animal was of medium size and had much smaller horns on its snout compared to the rhinoceros species today.

“The investigation was done so many years after (finding the fossils) because there was no funding and not enough paleontologists, and we’re sure that there’s still much to discover (about the species),” Guzman said.

News items on this page are from external sources and the International Rhino Foundation cannot be held responsible for the authenticity of their content, nor for the continuing presence of original links.

13-Nov-09 11:00 AM

Poor stork! 100-pound Rhino Born at Busch Gardens

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:00 GMT

TAMPA - It's a girl!

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay welcomed a new baby white rhinoceros Wednesday.

The newborn — who has yet to be named — weighs an estimated 100 pounds. She is the third calf born to mother Mlaleni and father Tambo.

The October 2004 birth of Mlaleni and Tambo's first calf, Malaika, marked the first white rhino birth in the adventure park's history. Their second calf, Dakari, was born in August 2006, and their third, Crash, was born in May 2008.

This latest birth brings the black and white rhino population at the adventure park to 12. There are nine white and three black rhinos.

Mlelani, Tambo and another female white rhino were airlifted from Kruger National Park in South Africa in 2001. According to the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of rhinos, a little over 14,530 white rhinos remain in the wild, and fewer than 170 live in zoological facilities across North America.

12-Nov-09 11:00 AM

Joint Forces to Prevent Extinction of Smallest Rhino in the World

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT

International scientists and zoo experts started together with Malaysian governmental and conservation organisations an extensive programme to protect the Sabah rhino.

A unique species is on the brink of extinction: the Sabah rhino population (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrisoni), a subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, is now represented by less than 50 individuals. In an attempt to save the species, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin, Germany, in collaboration with Zoo Leipzig from Leipzig, Germany and Malaysian governmental and conservation organisations, represented by the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA) have started an extensive conservation programme to protect and breed these impressive mammals. The species is in need of urgent protection. “The Sabah rhino is our local heritage, we need all the expertise we can get to safeguard the Sabah rhinos from extinction” said Datuk Masidi Manjun, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment from Sabah who met the German scientists from the IZW and Zoo Leipzig last week. The rhino is an indicator-species for an intact ecosystem - the “lowland rain forest”. If this “umbrella species” goes extinct, scores of other species living under the “ecological protection” of the Sabah rhino will disappear as well.

“The IZW scientists will help us with their knowledge of the reproductive biology of rhinos to assess the health and fertility of captive animals” said Dr. Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department after a technical meeting held in Kota Kinabalu with the specialists and local NGOs on Friday last week. He said “they will then give us recommendations on how to breed them most successfully”.

The Sabah rhino is the smallest rhino in the world with a shoulder height of only one meter and thirty centimetres. It lives primarily in the lowland rain forests of the Malaysian Federal State of Sabah on the island of Borneo. However, large areas of its habitat have disappeared for palm oil production which has fragmented the landscape, making reproductive contact between individuals difficult. The Malaysian government, in cooperation with the Borneo Rhino Alliance (BORA), has therefore begun building a breeding station where individual rhinos from the wild can be brought together in a kind of breeding sanctuary. „The next step is to determine whether the animals are fertile“, says Dr Petra Kretzschmar from the IZW. ”We have evidence from reproductive assessments in Sabah rhinos that they have reduced fertility”.

Acting swiftly is necessary for the success of the Sabah rhino breeding programme. Therefore, researchers plan to combine natural breeding with artificial insemination using advanced assisted reproductive techniques. Reproductive assistance will involve the IZW veterinarian specialist team lead by Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, whose expertise has already delivered outstanding results in breeding captive rhinos. Zoo Leipzig will contribute their skills in animal husbandry and training local staff in handling the animals.

Project partners have also agreed that protection of the remaining free ranging rhinos and their lowland rain forest habitat, are a crucial part of this project. To meet this task, a local and international awareness programme will be developed to help educate the public and provide funding for sustained management.

In 2011, Zoo Leipzig opens its tropical world of experience „Gondwanaland“. It will contain rain forest as well as animals native to the region that will act as ambassadors for the need to preserve endangered tropical forests. The “Sabah Rhino Conservation Project (SRCP)” will be presented within Gondwanaland to more than a million viewers from the public. It is believed that this approach, including cutting edge scientific know-how from the IZW, training and preparation from a prominent zoo and a public awareness campaign, is unique and necessary for the rescue of one of the most endangered species on earth.

12-Nov-09 10:00 AM

New Art in Place Installed

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 GMT

There's a rhino keeping an eye - and his horn - on traffic in Charlottesville. Monday Art in Place crews installed an eight-foot-long rhinoceros on Preston Avenue.

"Rambling Robbie" is the last new sculpture of the season to be put in place. This one is by sculptor Chris Jesse.

There are 10 Art in Place pieces around Charlottesville. Art in Place is a non-profit organization dedicated to make art accessible to the general public.

'Shooting animals does not make you a man'

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Texas property tycoon H Ross Perot Jr has been told officially to forget about claiming the horn of the white rhino bull which he failed to kill during a hunting expedition in Mkhuze game reserve earlier this year.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife confirmed yesterday that a letter to this effect had been sent to local professional hunter Garry Kelly, who had accompanied Perot Jr and his son, Hill Perot, during a hunting trip to Mkhuze in July.

Perot Jr is the son of H Ross Perot, the former US presidential candidate who stood against George Bush Snr and Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential elections.

Perot Jr claimed to have wounded a white rhino bull, while his son succeeded in killing a second bull on the same trip.

However, the injured bull was never recovered and Kelly later approached Ezemvelo on Perot's behalf, seeking permission to search for the animal, shoot it and send the trophy head to Texas.

Ezemvelo had agreed to allow a "follow-up hunt" this week, but it was cancelled shortly before The Mercury published a story on the matter last week Friday.

9-Nov-09 5:00 PM

Nepal Emerges as 'poacher's paradise'

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Forest warden Narendra Man Babu Pradhan is on the frontline of Nepal's battle against poachers and he grimaces as he recalls the recent discovery of an injured rhino whose horn had been cut off.

"We found a male rhino with bullet in his head around a lake in the park. It was a horrific sight," said Pradhan, who was informed by tour guides about the injured animal.

"The poachers had cut the horn off without killing it and it seemed in great pain," said the chief warden of the Chitwan National Park in southwest Nepal, a UNESCO world heritage site that is popular with foreign tourists.

Pradhan, who said the incident was the worst of his 20-year wildlife career, did everything he could to save the rhino but it died within two weeks.

In Nepal, poaching is getting worse, conservationists say, and the country has emerged as a hub for the illegal trade in animal parts given its strategic location between India, the source of material, and the Chinese market.

Porous borders, a lack of coordination between countries in the region and political instability in Nepal mean the men with guns and underworld connections are gaining the upper hand.

"The disappearance of tigers and seizures of skins, bones and rhino horns indicate poaching and trafficking is growing," Shiva Raj Bhatta, spokesman at Nepal's department of national parks and wildlife conservation, told AFP.

"Our wildlife is in a critical stage. We believe Nepal is fast developing as an international hub for wildlife trade and turning into a poacher's paradise."

Chitwan Park has lost 24 rhinos -- 17 of them killed by poachers -- in the past 18 months.

The figures for Asian big cats are not encouraging either.

A new tiger census carried out earlier this year showed that there were 121 adult tigers in Nepal's parks. In two parks in southwestern Nepal, the numbers fell by 60 percent, from 65 to 26.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick, who sent a video message to a tiger conservation forum at the end of October, said that traders and poachers were better organised than policymakers and conservationists.

"At present the illegal trade in wildlife is estimated at over 10 billion dollars (annually) across Asia -- second only to weapons and drug smuggling," he said.

In India, where tiger numbers are dwindling, experts say the border between India and Nepal serves as the principal route for contraband from India to the main market in China.

Poachers bribe poor forest dwellers to guide them through the dense jungles.

Part of the problem in Nepal, explained Bhatta, is that recent political turmoil has handed smugglers the opportunity to expand their operations.

Nepal's decade-long civil war between Maoist rebels and the state ended in 2006 with a UN-brokered peace agreement.

Since then the country has seen tumultuous change, with the ultra-leftists winning landmark polls, abolishing the 240-year-old monarchy and declaring Nepal a secular state before their government fell in May.

"Before the peace accord, the army used to be mobilised both inside and outside the parks, which created a psychological deterrent to the poachers," Bhatta said.

"Now the army is confined just inside the parks and in barracks."

Tiger and leopard parts, rhino horns, otter skins, live birds and turtles are known to pass through Nepal.

Rhino horns are highly valued as an aphrodisiac in China, and are used to make dagger handles in Arab countries.

Tigers attract huge sums of money in Asia, with their body parts used in traditional medicines and aphrodisiacs while their skins are used for furniture and decoration.

Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC India, a wildlife trade monitoring network, agreed with Zoellick that smuggling in animal parts had grown into a multi-billion-dollar business.

"All the signals are there to suggest that wildlife trafficking is fast emerging as transnational crime and is growing alarmingly," Sinha told AFP. "It will be difficult to win a battle against the traffickers unless countries collaborate with each other and share information and intelligence regularly."

A single tiger skin fetches a maximum of about 1,000 dollars in the local market, but more than 10,000 dollars internationally.

A single rhino horn can fetch as much as 14,000 dollars on the international black market, experts say.

Prasanna Yonzon of Wildlife Conservation Nepal, a local group monitoring the illegal trade, said Nepal had "ideal conditions" for wildlife trafficking as the borders with India and China are porous and lack proper security.

"Nepal is not the market for consumption and we don't have control over the market," said Yonzon, whose group has helped authorities nab over 100 poachers and traders through undercover operations in the last four years.

"The main market is China and other Asian countries. We are just being used as a conduit route to smuggle wildlife parts to the end users in those countries."

9-Nov-09 4:00 PM

Animal CSI: Lab Targets Illegal Species Traffic

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

Rare and beautiful animals such as the clouded leopard or douc langur monkey spend their lives in the jungles of southeast Asia.

In death, they might end up in, of all places, an open U.S. market catering to southeast Asian immigrants. At one such market in Minnesota, in the shadow of the state capitol, federal agents recently uncovered a tiny slice of a multi-billion-dollar criminal enterprise that is rarely seen.

"Slow loris is a primate," said federal agent Sheila O'Connor, explaining photos of evidence confiscated from the market. "These are dholes, dhole hide. These are tapir feet. [A dhole is a member of the dog family; the tapir is an endangered relative of the rhino]. These are douc langur parts. These are hands and feet both."

U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents say illegal trafficking in wildlife is the No. 1 threat of extinction for animals ranging from elephants to tigers.

Minneapolis airport inspector Linda Benson ran smack into the strange underworld during a routine check of passengers disembarking from a flight from Laos.

"When we found the primate and the elephant skin and the elephant teeth, um, you know, we knew we were on to something," Benson said.

The passenger carrying the illegal goods hardly looked like a top predator in the black-market world of animal trafficking, Benson said. She was an elderly Laotian woman by the name of Pa Lor.

But her luggage told another story. She was carrying a ghoulish collection -- more than a thousand claws, teeth and skins.

"Usually when we work passengers, we'll find maybe one item they might be bringing in, one item," said Benson. "With her it was such a large quantity, and then when we started picking out the primate skins and the serow horn. It was just amazing."

The serow is a small hoofed animal endemic to Taiwan.

Inspector Benson called federal agent O'Connor.

They tracked the woman to a stall in the market and sent a Laotian-speaking agent undercover with a camera.

What he found, they say, was a marketplace for rare animal parts that were smuggled into the United States to be used for everything from medicine to sending a person bad luck.

The agent discovered thousands of pieces -- many from endangered species.

There was a 14-pound elephant tooth for sale. The entire face of a rare primate was being offered for thousands of dollars.

As we went in and looked at some other things we learned what some of the products were purported to be. One was serow blood in little jars. Dried, it looked like coffee grounds with red dye in it.

"It's used medicinally," said O'Connor.

6-Nov-09 5:00 PM

2 Nagaland Officials Suspect- Wildlife Crime Bureau Tracks 4 Calls on Poacher’s Cell Phone

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Guwahati, Nov. 6: The rhino horn racket trail has led the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to two senior government officials in Nagaland.

These officials were found to be the subscribers of two telephone numbers found on the cell phone of a dreaded poacher, Harmuj Ali, who died in an encounter with forest guards at Orang Rajiv Gandhi National Park in Assam on the night of October 17.

Sources in the bureau today said the agency had tracked down four phone numbers found on Harmuj’s cell phone to Nagaland.

“Two of these phone numbers were registered in the names of senior state government officials based in Dimapur, another was registered in the name of a private school based in Kohima and one belonged to an individual in Mokokchung,” a senior official of the bureau said.

One of the two is a senior education department official and the other is a medical officer. Both are based in Dimapur, the bureau official said, declining to give further details.

He said the Nagaland police had been contacted.

The official said several phone calls had been exchanged between these numbers and that of Harmuj on the day the poacher and his associates killed a rhino at Orang.

“There were also several missed calls on Harmuj’s cell phone from these numbers after he died in the encounter. The calls kept coming from these numbers till late in the morning the day after the encounter,” he added.

The numbers were handed over to the Calcutta-based Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, which then contacted the cell phone companies for details of the call lists.

However, the SIM card recovered from Harmuj’s mobile was indeed stolen from the employee of a Guwahati-based construction company.

“The employee of the company had already registered a complaint with the police regarding the stolen SIM card,” a police official here said.

The police had picked up the person from Hatigaon following information from the wildlife crime bureau but had allowed him to go after he said his SIM card had been stolen.

The rangers of Orang have also managed to arrest two poachers involved in the killing of the rhino at the national park on October 17.

Md Majibur Rahman, who was picked up from Dholaguri Pathar village in Sonitpur district, was present at the encounter site at the park. He managed to escape but his two associates, Harmuj and another poacher, died in the shootout with forest guards.

His accomplice, Babar Ali of Basasimilu village under Dhekiajuli police station, provided logistical support to the group in carrying out the killing of the rhino, forest officials claimed.

Harmuj had been arrested several times earlier on charges of killing rhinos both at Kaziranga and Orang.

6-Nov-09 4:00 PM

2 Nagaland Officials Suspect- Wildlife Crime Bureau Tracks 4 Calls on Poacher’s Cell Phone

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Harmuj had been arrested several times earlier on charges of killing rhinos both at Kaziranga and Orang.

6-Nov-09 4:00 PM

US Tycoon Fights For White Rhino Trophy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

One of the richest men in America is embroiled in a heated legal battle with South African wildlife officials to recover the trophy head of a white rhino bull.

The twist to the story is that the rhino at the centre of the row appears to be alive and healthy in Mkhuze game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal after surviving a hunting attempt more than three months ago by Texas property tycoon H Ross Perot jr, son of H Ross Perot, 79, former US presidential candidate who stood against George Bush (sr) and Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential elections.

The animal was apparently shot and wounded by Perot jr in late July, but the bull ran off and wildlife officials have been unable to find any sign of a carcass or a wounded animal - indicating that it suffered a flesh wound or was not seriously injured.

professional hunter acting for Perot then engaged lawyers to allow a "follow-up" operation and it was agreed that Perot could have the animal's head if it was tracked down during a hunting operation scheduled to start this weekend.

But in a dramatic about-turn last night, conservation authorities pulled the plug on the second hunt and declared that Perot was no longer entitled to his trophy horns in any circumstances.

The initial decision to allow Perot's agents to have a "second bite at the cherry" drew strong opposition after it emerged that the animal would be shot by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife if there was a visible bullet wound from Perot's large-calibre hunting rifle.

Despite initial opposition, Ezemvelo later agreed that the trophy head and skin would become the property of Perot and could be shipped back to Texas. But last-minute discussions were held last night between Ezemvelo chief executive Bandile Mkhize and Andrew Zaloumis, chief executive of the IsiMangaliso Wetland Park world heritage site.

Shortly before The Mercury was about to publish the story, Mkhize and Zaloumis announced that there would be no second hunt and if Ezemvelo were to track down the animal and find that it was suffering they would put it out of its misery - but Perot no longer had any claim to its head.

Garry Kelly, the South African professional hunter who was sub-contracted to accompany Perot on the first hunt, had insisted that the primary purpose of the follow-up operation at Mkhuze was to ensure the wounded animal was tracked down and destroyed to spare it further pain and suffering.

Other sources felt the decision to allow a follow-up was "morally absurd" and merely a pretext to obtain the animal's head. They said the animal had suffered a flesh wound and was unlikely to bear any remaining visible wounds.

Kelly said the fate of the trophy head was irrelevant to him and he was simply completing his professional duty to follow the hunt to its conclusion. However, his attorney has stated that the current health status of the animal became immaterial to the trophy contract the moment it was struck by a bullet.

"The American client of my client (Kelly) has paid a vast sum of money, so there is an issue of getting the trophy... the legal issue is that there is a contract which says they are entitled and obliged to do what they are doing. The (American) client says he can't come back (to South Africa) and feels: 'I've paid for it and I want it (the trophy).'"

The Mercury has established from correspondence that Perot jr, 47, was accompanied on the recent African safari by one of his sons, Hill Perot, 27.

While Perot jr apparently bungled his shot in the controlled hunting zone of the Mkhuze reserve, Hill Perot is understood to have succeeded in bagging his own rhino trophy.

Judging from pictures posted on his "Facebook" and "MySpace" online networking sites, Hill Perrot already has an extensive trophy collection.

Neither Kelly nor his Pietermaritzburg attorney, Pat Dewes, would confirm the identity of their American client, but a spokesman for Perot confirmed his involvement through an e-mail message which referred all queries to Kelly.

Dewes said the American client (Perot) was "not a novice" and was required by the Ezemvelo hunting contract to undergo a marksmanship proficiency test before he was allowed to proceed with the hunt.

A flurry of legal letters was exchanged between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Kelly, reportedly with the support of Perot jr.

He insisted on an opportunity to do a follow-up hunt for the injured animal. But Ezemvelo CEO Bandile Mkhize declined this request on the basis that hunting rules and codes of conduct did not permit this. If an animal was wounded and could not be recovered it was considered forfeit. Mkhize also expressed concern about the difficulty of tracking and identifying the bull.

Last month, however, Ezemvelo acceded to Kelly's requests and allowed him permission for "one final search".

In a subsequent letter, Mkhize made it clear that the rhino could be shot only if the animal was identified according to agreed criteria and "if there is any doubt the animal will not be shot".

It made no mention, however, of the current health status of the animal being a factor in the decision to hunt it a second time.

Kelly's attorney has taken the view that if the animal was identified and shot by Ezemvelo officials his clients were automatically entitled to possession of the trophy head and skin.

Perot jr is listed on the Forbes list of America's richest people, although he is not quite as rich as his more famous father. Perot jr's wealth fell from $2,2bn to $1,25bn in the most recent Forbes list.

It is not known how much Perot jr paid for the hunt, but sources suggest a single rhino trophy hunting package would cost in the region of R500 000.

While the issue of rhino hunting remains contentious, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife offers at least two hunts in the Mkhuze reserve every year on a tender basis, and an average of 30 white rhinos are also auctioned annually to private buyers, including hunters.

Several conservation authorities have acknowledged the role of hunting and private ownership in boosting the species' recovery. But now the failed hunting attempt by Perot jr has raised fresh concerns around the issue of rhino hunting.

6-Nov-09 2:00 PM

Zoo Hoping Rhino's 2nd Pregnancy Will Succeed

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:00:00 GMT

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Zoo is hoping a rhino's second pregancy will result in what officials say would be the world's first live birth of an Indian rhinoceros conceived through artificial insemination.

Zoo officials also say a successful delivery for 18-year-old Nikki would result in the first such calf produced using frozen and thawed sperm.

The nearly 2-ton rhino gave birth to a stillborn calf in 2008. The new delivery is expected in October 2010.

Nikki is on loan from the Toronto Zoo and is 133 days into a 480-day gestation period. The sperm came from a 38-year-old Indian rhino at the Bronx Zoo.

Male Indian rhinos have been known to injure females in natural breeding. The Indian rhino is ranked vulnerable on a threatened species list.

5-Nov-09 2:00 PM

Rhino Expecting Again

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT

A Cincinnati Zoo rhinoceros whose groundbreaking pregnancy resulted in a stillborn calf in 2008 is expecting again.

If all goes well, next October the zoo will celebrate the world's first live birth of an Indian rhino conceived by artificial insemination. It would also be the first such calf produced using frozen and thawed sperm.

Nikki, an 18-year-old, 3,950-pound rhino on indefinite loan from the Toronto Zoo, is 133 days into a 480-day gestation period.

"It looks great. We have high hopes," said Monica Stoops, reproductive physiologist for the zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, or CREW. She's the scientist who developed the techniques that made such a pregnancy possible.

Vinu, a 38-year-old Indian rhino at the Bronx Zoo, is the father. His sperm was collected in 2005 and stored for four years at 320 degrees below zero in CREW's CryoBioBank. The sperm was thawed for the artificial insemination procedure in June.

Stoops was confident the procedure would work because it had been successful before, in 2006. That time, Nikki experienced a normal pregnancy, but 492 days into it, on Jan. 5, 2008, she delivered a stillborn female calf.

"We knew there was a large chance that could happen because she was an older female having a baby for the first time," Stoops said. "As we've seen with all the stud book records we go through, all the females that have had stillborns with their first calf go on to have successful second births. That makes us feel really good."

Ideally, Stoops said, the zoo would breed the animals naturally. But male Asian rhinos - which include Sumatran and Indian rhinos - are extremely aggressive and are known to injure the females.

There are 60 Indian rhinos in captivity in North America, the zoo said. Cincinnati has no males and one other female, but "she has not been able to carry a calf," Stoops said. That female is expected to be replaced by another female from the Wilds, a wildlife conservation preserve in southeastern Ohio.

Successful breeding is important in maintaining the genetic diversity necessary to keep the population healthy.

The Indian rhino is one of five rhino species. It is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species.

The species nearly became extinct in the early 1900s due to loss of habitat and hunting. Thanks to conservation efforts, the population has grown and in May 2007 was estimated at 2,575, the IUCN says.

5-Nov-09 9:00 AM