By Yara Bayoumy
NAIROBI, April 3 (Reuters) – Better surveillance and stiffer
penalties must be imposed to combat rhino poaching in Africa,
which if left unchecked could see the species become extinct in
the wild by 2025, regional conservation officials said on
Tuesday.
The world’s rhino population has declined 90 percent since
1970, conservationists estimate. On the African continent, there
are some 20,150 white rhinos that are near threatened and 4,840
black rhinos that are critically endangered.
“We’ve certainly reached a tipping point in rhino
populations. There is no way that our national populations can
sustain the level of poaching,” Pelham Jones, chairman of the
South Africa Private Rhino Owners Association, told Reuters on
the sidelines of a conservation summit in Nairobi.
“What I’ve seen in the past is that many politicians …
have solidly got their heads in the sand … The attitude of
saying that there is no crisis is a statement of denial. There
is a crisis,” Jones said.
Last year, 448 rhinos were poached in South Africa alone, a
33 percent increase compared to the year before, driven by high
demand from Asian countries where the rhino horn is purported to
cure cancer. Scientists have widely dismissed the assertion.
South Africa is home to more than 90 percent of Africa’s
rhino population.
The price of rhinoceros horn has soared to $50,000 per kg,
higher than the price of gold, the summit, hosted by the African
Wildlife Foundation, said.
Continued…
