Concern at its peak as rhinos ‘worth 100 times more dead than alive’

LONDON: Mike Toft is an excellent marksman. Leaning out of a tiny white chopper as it hovers perilously close to the tree tops in the South African bush, he has his sights on the behind of a black rhino, one of the most critically endangered animals in the world.

The vet gets his shot away as the rhino charges through the trees and scrub. In a clearing, where game wardens and gun-toting members of the anti-poaching unit are waiting, the crackle over the radio is that it’s a bullseye.

The chopper emits a highpitched whine to herd the animal to an accessible spot in the four or five minutes before the cocktail of drugs shot into its backside knocks it out.

“With black rhino, anything can happen, they can end up upside down, in a river – they do their damnedest to make it as difficult as possible for us,” says Toft of routine examinations. “Black rhino capture is organised chaos. They are an exceptionally difficult animal to immobilise.”

Losing a black rhino would be a disaster. There are only about 5 000 left, with an undisclosed number of those here on the Thanda private game reserve in Zululand.

With the price of rhino horn, gram for gram, twice that of gold in places such as China, where the new wealth has seen demand soar for what is essentially a huge finger nail, they are a big pay day for poachers.

“One of the biggest things rhino horn is used for now is as a blood purifier,” explains Toft. “If you’re out and it’s a big business corporate thing and you want to impress your business partners, give them a blood-purifying shot at the end of the evening; you snort it or drink it, and you don’t get a hangover in the morning. Of course it’s bulls***. It’s all about impressing your mates.”

Earlier this month, a 22-yearold poacher from Mozambique was shot dead on a neighbouring reserve. They have semi-automatic assault rifles, as do the antipoaching team. If they come across each other, whoever picks their weapon up first is likely to be the one to get away.

“It is a human tragedy as well,” says Thanda’s reserve manager, Warren Beets. “People who have nothing, want food on the table.”

This is the front line in the battle to save some of the world’s most magnificent animals. But conservation is a fraught and complex issue and the tactics can leave some of us cold. The death of Cecil the lion, for example, has thrown trophy hunting into the international spotlight. Of course, it is revolting to see a beautiful animal shot in its prime to satisfy the vanity of a rich Westerner.

“The horn is worth $60 000 (R770 000) a kilo,” says Toft. “If we could sell the shavings, it would pay for all of our interventions. There are pros and there are cons to legalising the horn trade.

“But I do believe personally there are more pros. Right now, rhinos are worth 100 times more dead than they are alive. We need to turn that around.”

He explains that the horn grows like a finger nail, and could be harvested every three or four years. It would bring the price down. Opponents say this would only drive up demand, however.

“It’s all about status. If you lower the status, everyone can have a little rhino horn, then the status disappears.” – The Independent