The black rhino has a massive price tag on its head, or
more accurately on its horn. With a market value of $65,000 dollars on the horn
it is no wonder why poachers are willing to go to extreme lengths to acquire
these horns. Poachers implement many tactics to attain these horns, the most
popular tactic being to use a tranquilizer dart to sedate the rhino. This
process is incredibly effective because tranquilizer darts make virtually no
sound, this way park rangers are unable to respond to the poaching. After the
rhino is sedated, the rhino’s horn is forcibly removed with an ax, which always
ends in the rhino’s death. Horns may be removed without killing the rhino
however professionals must do it and it leaves a stump. Poachers want the
entire horn so they often cleave off a chunk of skin at the base of the horn,
which will kill the rhino.
To counter the threat of poaching, National parks have
dramatically increased security. Security has increased to the point where some
rhinos have their own personal security details. The Pittsburg-Post Gazette
recently released an article entitled “Rhino's hope: A rhinoceros in Kenya has a security detail befitting a rock star”. The article reports that the last
living northern white rhino in Kenya is such a prize for poachers that it has
its own personal bodyguard. This rhino is critical to the survival of the
species because conservationists are attempting to use its sperm to help create
test tube rhinos. This is worrisome because if all of the future northern white
rhinos are all from the same father, genetic diversity will be small which is deleterious
to a population’s survival.
While this post sounds full of doom and gloom there is some hope. The security detail for this rhino was paid for through crowd funding from people across the globe. This shows that there are people willing to spend their earnings on saving these majestic, important creatures.
While this post sounds full of doom and gloom there is some hope. The security detail for this rhino was paid for through crowd funding from people across the globe. This shows that there are people willing to spend their earnings on saving these majestic, important creatures.
The genetic diversity is indeed worrisome. However, with the information provided in this article, I think that it's the only way that we can do to help preserve the rhinos. Other method that I can think of, although not very applicable, is that scientists can do the same process which was shown in Jurassic Park (the 1993 movie). They can extract DNA from the tissues of the living/dead white rhinos and alter them a little bit with DNA from other species of rhinos. Thus creating new individuals that inherit ~75% genes of the original white rhinos so they can be considered white rhinos.
ReplyDeleteInteresting how you chose to talk about body gaurds as a whole rather than a single person. When I was ol pejeta Kenya I saw a security car following literally every where a rhino went. The security car would follow the rhino and park and turn off while the rhino was grazing and the rhino would take 2 steps forward then the car would start and move the length of two steps closer to the rhino. It's crazy how bad poaching has gotten that much of a problem that security is needed for each rhino
ReplyDeletePlease ignore my last post. For some reason I thought this was your third post
ReplyDeleteI think the fact that the rhino horn is worth $65,000 is ridiculous, especially since it's the same as our fingernails. Heck, I'd sell my fingernails for that much! But anyway, I think that it's incredibly sad that these poachers are going to lengths to remove the rhino's horns in such a forceful and fatal manner. The future of the rhino population is looking pretty bleak, so I think that it's great that there is increased security to help protect these beautiful creatures.
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