ON NOW TO SOUTH AFRICA -- HOME TO ROUGHLY 80 PERCENT OF THE WORLD'S RHINOCEROS POPULATION.
BUT 2013 WAS A VERY BAD YEAR FOR THE MORE THAN 25,000 RHINOS THERE.
ALMOST ONE-THOUSAND OF THE ANIMALS WERE KILLED FOR THEIR HORNS, A 50-PERCENT RISE FROM THE
YEAR BEFORE.
A TRADE BAN ON RHINO HORNS HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR DECADES, BUT THE SPECIES MAY BE LOSING
THE FIGHT AGAINST EXTINCTION.
VOA'S CHRIS SIMKINS WENT TO A PRIVATE GAME
PARK IN SOUTH AFRICA, WHERE THE RHINO IS GETTING SOME PROTECTION.
OUR REBECCA WARD TALKED WITH HIM ABOUT THE EFFORT.
PARK RANGER C.J. LOMBARD AND HIS TRACKER PATRICK MOYANE ARE OUT ON ANOTHER GAME DRIVE LOOKING
FOR RHINOCEROS.
"IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY YOU CAN SEE THE FRONT TOENAIL.
ONE SIDE TOENAIL, THE OTHER SIDE TOENAIL AND THE HEEL OF THIS MALE RHINO"
IN THIS PRIVATE SOUTH AFRICAN GAME PARK, PART OF THE LARGER KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, LOMBARD
AND MOYANE NOT ONLY TRACK RHINOS BUT SEARCH FOR POACHERS WHO WANT TO KILL
THE ANIMALS FOR THEIR HORNS.
THIS KRUGER NATIONAL PARK REGION IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST AREAS AND HOTBED AREAS FOR POACHING
ACTIVITIES - ANIMAL POACHING ACTIVITY.
SO WE SAW SOME EVIDENCE OF DEAD
ELEPHANTS, SOME DEAD RHINOS.
AND IT'S JUST HARD TO SEE SUCH MAJESTIC ANIMALS BEING SLAUGHTERED LIKE THAT FOR THEIR IVORY
TEST OR THEIR RHINO HORNS.
AND THESE ANIMALS ARE ON THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST SO THEY ARE PROTECTED SUPPOSEDLY WORLDWIDE.
THEY HAVE BEEN - AND RHINOCEROS HAVE BEEN PROTECTED SINCE 1976, I BELIEVE.
THERE'S BEEN AN INTERNATIONAL TRADE BAN BUT THAT HAS NOT STOPPED THE POACHERS OR THE
VALUE OF THEIR HORNS IN ASIAN MARKETS WHERE IN SOME CASES THEY'RE WORTH MORE THAN GOLD.
THE RHINO HORN CAN FETCH ABOUT 60-THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A KILO.
BUT WHY IS THAT?
I MEAN WHAT IS IT ABOUT RHINO HORNS THAT ARE SO ATTRACTIVE?
IT'S A BELIEF BASICALLY.
A BELIEF MOSTLY IN ASIAN CULTURES WHERE THEY BELIEVE THAT THE RHINO HORN HAS SOME KIND
OF MEDICINAL VALUE.
THAT YOU CAN CRUSH UP THE
HORN AND THEY THINK THAT IT CAN CURE THINGS LIKE CANCER, ARTHRITIS, STOMACH ACHES, BUT
NONE OF THIS IS REALLY TRUE.
IT'S KERATIN -THE SAME TYPE OF PROTEIN THAT ARE
MADE UP IN HUMAN FINGERNAILS, TOENAILS AND YOUR HAIR.
WELL I WONDER IF, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS CAN HAPPEN WITH RHINOS, BUT I KNOW IN SOME
CASES IN AREAS WHERE THERE'S A LOT OF POACHING GOING ON, THEY'LL CUT THE
ELEPHANTS TUSK BECAUSE ELEPHANTS CAN LIVE WITHOUT THEIR TUSKS.
IS THAT ALSO TRUE FOR RHINOS HORNS?
RHINOS CAN LIVE WITHOUT THEIR HORNS AS WELL BUT RHINOS ARE SO BIG AND MASSIVE AND VERY
ANGRY ANIMALS - SO IN ORDER TO GET THAT HORN, POACHERS HAVE TO KILL THEM.
BUT THE OTHER TROUBLING THING IS THAT THEY WILL KILL THE MOTHER AND YOU WILL SEE THE
BABY CALF THERE THAT WILL STAY BY ITS MOTHER'S SIDE.
THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO
GET FOOD AND THEN THEY STARVE TO DEATH.
SO A FUTURE GENERATION RHINO ALSO DOESN'T SURVIVE.
SO YOU'RE NOT JUST KILLING ONE, YOU'RE KILLING OTHERS ON THE PROCESS.
AND THIS IS A WORLDWIDE PROBLEM NOT JUST RHINOS AND ELEPHANTS BUT OTHER ANIMALS ACROSS THE
WORLD.
SO THERE IS SOME KIND OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT AND I'M
WONDERING HOW THAT'S TRICKLING DOWN TO THE GAME RESERVES?
WILL A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS HOW TO STOP POACHING.
I DON'T THINK ANYONE WAY IS THE NUMBER ONE SOLUTION.
BUT FOR INSTANCE FOR THE RHINOCEROS
THEY HAVE BEEN INJECTING POISON IN THIS PARTICULAR GAME PART THAT I WAS VISITING INTO EACH AND
EVERY RHINO IN THIS PARK.
NOW IT DOESN'T HARM THE RHINO BUT THEY
POST SIGNS ACROSS THE PARK WARNING POACHERS THAT POISON HAS BEEN INJECTED INTO THESE RHINO
HORNS.
SO IF THEY TAKE THEM AND TRY TO SELL THEM ON THE BLACK MARKET,
SOMEBODY CRUSHES UP THE HORN AND DRINKS IT, THEY'RE GOING TO GET SICK.
AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER PROPOSAL -- THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT'S ASKING FOR PERMISSION
TO
GO INTO A STOCKPILE -- A BILLION DOLLAR STOCKPILE OF RHINO HORNS THEY HAVE SITTING IN WAREHOUSES.
SO THAT WOULD BE AN EFFORT TO FLOOD THE MARKET, HOPEFULLY BRING
DOWN THE PRICE OF THE RHINO HORN AND THUS EASING THE POACHING THAT'S GOING ON.
AND WE WERE TALKING EARLIER, YOU DID SAY THIS WAS YOUR FIRST TRIP TO AFRICA.
IT'S A FASCINATING COUNTRY WITH SO MUCH VASTNESS AND THE AREA THAT WE WERE IN IS SO BEAUTIFUL
-- ESPECIALLY IN THE SUMMERTIME WHEN I WAS DOWN THERE -- EVERYTHING WAS
TURNING GREEN.
AND SO YOU REALLY FEEL THAT YOU ARE IN THE BUSH, WHERE I SAW NOT ONLY ALL OF THE BIG
FIVE MAMMALS -- THE ELEPHANTS, THE RHINO, WATER BUFFALO,
LIONS, BUT I SAW HUNDREDS OF SPECIES OF BIRDS, SO MANY REPTILES AND THIS IS THEIR HOME.
YOU'RE SEEING THEM IN THE WILD SO I DON'T THINK THAT I COULD EVER GO TO A
ZOO AGAIN AND SEE THESE SAME ANIMALS.
AND OUT THANKS TOM VOA CORRESPONDENT CHRIS SIMKINS.
IN PARTICULAR, THE POPULATION OF BLACK RHINOS IS NOW LESS THAN HALF OF WHAT IT WAS 35 YEARS
AGO.
BUT SOME
GOOD NEWS - IN THE LAST 20 YEARS, THE NUMBER HAS BEEN GOING BACK UP, AND NOW STANDS AT
ABOUT 5-THOUSAND.