RHINOS DEHORNED TO SAVE THEM FROM POACHERS

Botswana began removing the horns of its rhinos and moving them away from the iconic Okavango Delta as an unprecedented poaching crisis threatens their survival in the country.

The government said that at least 56 of the animals have been killed by poachers in the past two years, marking the worst onslaught since Botswana’s black rhino population was wiped out in 1992 and the number of white rhinos dropped to just 27.

The horns are smuggled to the Far East where they are believed to cure cancer and other illnesses. Dehorning will “combat poaching and safeguard the future of this species,” the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism said in a statement.