GIANT MISSION
Inside the local campaign to tackle the illegal horn trade that is killing about 100 rhinos a month worldwide
WOULD you consider eating your fingernail as a delicacy, an elixir or even a sign of your wealth? Of course not, yet the rampant illegal trade in rhino horn – made of keratin like our fingernails – is responsible for almost 100 rhinos dying a horrific death every month. A new Zoos Victoria partnership with Rhino Fund Uganda is part of the global effort to change that. “It’s like a war out there,” Lance Weldhagen says. The Werribee Open Range Zoo keeper is not exaggerating. Those out to capitalise on the rumoured $100,000 per kilo price for rhino horn have weapons and resources to rival an army. And their tactics are as cruel as a militia. Magnificent animals are riddled with bullets or crudely hacked apart for every last inch of their horn and left to die a bloody, painful death. Many assume the use of rhino horn is an ancient tradition among Asian cultures, yet it is far from it. Before the mid-2000s, rhinos were largely ignored by poachers and the illegal wildlife trade. In 2007, 13 animals were killed in South Africa, the main battle ground. But the next year 83 animals were killed and by 2015, that number had exploded to 1338 animals. Figures for other eastern and central African countries are not as well recorded. “That they’re being killed for their horn is hard to fathom,” Mr Weldhagen says. “It’s compressed hair, there’s no proof the horn has any medicinal value.” Not-for-profit group Breaking the Brand Vietnam, which has met with Werribee Zoo staff, found the ground-up horn was used as a status symbol by wealthy middle-aged men. “It’s a status symbol, (they call it) the millionaires’ cocktail and they serve it when they sign a deal,” Mr Weldhagen says. The trade has become so lucrative that cocaine syndicates have moved into the trade. Horn is worth more than gold — and human life. Zimbabwe has a “shoot first, arrest if you survive” policy for suspected poachers, while the International
Ranger Foundation reports 595 rangers died in the line of duty between 2009 and 2016.
Such a multi-headed problem has led to a wide range of potential solutions. Many national parks are cutting their rhinos’ horns — as painless as trimming your nails — in an effort to protect them, others use armed guards or train and empower locals into alternative industries.
One of the most controversial ideas is to legalise the trade and flood the market with confiscated and removed horns to drive down the price and potentially start a sustainable industry.
“(Some parks) pump the horn with dye which renders it useless but it needs to be across the board, logistically it’s hard to cover such expansive areas, Kruger alone is as big as Israel,” Mr Weldhagen says.
“Raising awareness is definitely the key and supporting rhino conservation gets boots on the ground. Or our children’s children won’t be able to go to Africa to see rhinos and they’ll only be in zoos, which would be sad. And the way the trend is going that’s a very real possibility.”
The World Rhino Day on September 22 was a chance to highlight the plight of rhinos and resolve to make a difference.
Zoos Victoria put its money where its mouth is, announcing a vital three-year partnership with Rhino Fund Uganda, a group which has been working since 1997 to reintroduce southern white rhinos into Uganda.
The species were declared extinct in Uganda in 1983 but since introducing six rhinos into the 7000ha Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in 2005, they’ve celebrated the birth of 12 calves — the first born in the country in more than 25 years. They are guarded by a team of 70 park rangers and a ring of two-metre high electric fences. Eventually the fund hopes to release a sustainable population into the wild.
Adding to the already mammoth task is the need to reintroduce the rhinos’ favourite foods, which were wiped out due to the commercialisation of local herbal remedies, illegal clearing and population growth.
“It’s imperative we work with, encourage and support conservation through communities in situ if we are to achieve long-term sustainable outcomes for both people and wildlife,” Zoos Victoria international conservation partnerships manager Chris Banks says.
Mr Banks recently travelled to Uganda to see first-hand the fund’s work, declaring it “quite incredible”.
“This new conservation partnership is an important milestone for Zoos Victoria, particularly the team at Werribee Open Range Zoo, who have been involved in the care of southern white rhinos for more than 30 years,” he says.
Mr Weldhagen started with Zoos Victoria two years before the Werribee site opened. He grew up in Namibia and South Africa with a love of the savanna.
In his care for the past 10 years have been the zoo’s herd of southern white rhinos. Of the seven current residents, four came from Kruger National Park.
But even out of Africa, they are not out of danger.
Mr Weldhagen said while it was a very remote possibility, Werribee Zoo had increased security of its herd in recent years after the horn trade saw zoos and museums in the United Kingdom and Europe raided. In 2011, 20 thefts took place in six months alone.
“We’ve definitely beefed up our security over the past couple of years, there’s a new 3.5m tall fence and cameras and security patrols at night,” he said.
“We’re more aware of the potential.”
Not that Umgana, Leeory, Kapamba, Make, Letaba, Si Si and Kipenzi know it, though their role as ambassadors has never been more important.
“The turnaround for females to breed is 3-5 years and with 20,000 left (in the wild) we’re going to get to a point where the death rate outweighs the birthrate then it’s too late,” Mr Weldhagen says.
“Hopefully it’s a war we can win.”