The great rhino rescue
IT IS brutal and heartbreaking, but desperate rhino owners are sawing off the endangered animals’ horns – to save them from poachers.
Vets and volunteers in South Africa, including some Britons, are getting into helicopters armed with dart guns and chainsaws to do humanely what the hunters carry out mercilessly.
Poachers often end up killing the majestic beasts before selling horns on the Asian black market for £50,000 a kilo (2.2lb).
Wildlife vet Dr Johan Marais, who founded the Saving the Survivors charity, was asked by a private farm 250 miles from Johannesburg to dehorn some of its 14 white rhinos.
Hidden cameras picked up a scout eyeing the herd and the car registration of a known poacher was identified nearby, on the day Dr Marais arrived.
Removing the rhino’s trademark is violent but bloodless – and a regrettable necessity, say antipoaching activists.
Dr Marais said: “Many more people dehorn now compared to five years ago, with owners reckoning it will discourage poachers from coming on to their farms.
“I think it probably has, to certain extent.”
However, there is now a “very worrying trend” of illicit hunters shooting dehorned rhinos for the 3-4in stub left behind.
Dr Marais and other wildlife vets are now trying to find a way to remove horns permanently.
He said: “It’s a sad state of affairs that we’re at this stage of the game because nothing we’ve put in place since 2008, when poaching started, has helped.”
In the last decade, nearly 10,000 rhinos have been killed for their horns. There are about 27,000 remaining in the wild and three of the five species – black, Javan and Sumatran – are critically endangered.
Last year, 451 of the mighty mammals were poached in South Africa and 189 arrests made.
The farm owner – who did not want to be named to protect his herd – said: “I wish we didn’t have to put them through this hell and trauma because of some greedy person who wants their horn.
“They don’t deserve to be darted, collared and dehorned.”
Dr Marais fired a powerful tranquilliser dart from a helicopter into 5,000lb bull Marula.
A blindfold and earplugs were placed on the conscious but immobilised beast, before his two horns were removed. The white keratin chips flying off the chainsaw had to be carefully caught by a blanket...some rogue rangers have tried to sell the flakes for thousands of pounds.
Among the volunteers helping the vets were tourists Lorna Cox, 65, and her daughter Louise, 27.
Louise, from Stockwell, south London, said of dehorning: “It’s not ideal. But I think to reduce the immediate risk of poachers and protect the lives of staff here and the owners, it’s unfortunately necessary.”
Lorna, of Gerrards Cross, Bucks, said it had been distressing to watch at times, but added: “This sort of opportunity helps you to see the bigger picture.” Removed horns are weighed, microchipped and given back to the owners to lock away, or be sold within South Africa only.
But dehorning is not the only poaching deterrent. Rhino Grace, who was shot at twice by hunters, had a tracking collar replaced during the same visit.
Armed guards, helicopters and vets are a huge expense and some owners say they should be allowed to legally sell horns to international buyers and spend the cash on conservation efforts. Dr Marais said: “There is no silver bullet.
“In a certain way, I agree with anti-traders that it might make poaching worse, but we don’t know until we’ve tried it.
“Let’s try it for a year – but you have to do it in a controlled manner. If it doesn’t work, we stop.”