Vietnamese anti-rhinoceros horn trade advertisements

This video is called Rhinos under threat (Not recommended for children).

From Wildlife Extra:

Ad campaign launched in Vietnam against rhino horn trade

Ad campaign aims to reduce Vietnamese demand for rhino horn

May 2013. Vietnamese citizens are being encouraged to stop buying or consuming rhino horn through a series of advertisements developed by WWF and TRAFFIC as part of their campaign against Illegal Wildlife Trade.

The print adverts were conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather Viet Nam and depict a rhino with human hands or feet in place of its horn. They provide a novel and intriguing visual to communicate to the Vietnamese public that rhino horn is made largely of keratin, the same substance that makes up your finger nails and toe nails.

Rhino horn will do nothing to treat cancer or help one’s sexual prowess

“Rhino horn is largely made of keratin and will do nothing to treat cancer or help one’s sexual prowess. There are traditional medicines that have proven to be effective for treating a variety of ailments and symptoms and have saved millions of lives. Rhino horn is not one of them,” said TRAFFIC’s Greater Mekong Programme Coordinator, Dr Naomi Doak.

“Widespread lies, myths and rumours are fuelling demand and use of rhino horn.”

A dramatic spike in demand for rhino horn is believed to be driven by myths related to its curative properties in regards to disease and illness, along with renewed interest in other non-traditional medicinal uses such as a treatment for hangovers, as a sexual stimulant and a detoxifier.

Although rhino horn remains in the pages of a number of Traditional Vietnamese Medicine texts, its sale is illegal and it has not been included in the publication of the official pharmacopeia in Viet Nam for a number of years.

“Currently hundreds of rhinos are being poached each year in South Africa, their horns hacked off and smuggled to meet the soaring demand in Asia including Viet Nam, where rhino horn is considered as ‘miracle medicine’, despite a lack of supporting medical evidence. It is high time to stop the poaching crisis and save African rhinos from extinction” said WWF-Vietnam Communications Manager, Ms Nguyen Thuy Quynh.

Global issues

Illegal wildlife trade has become an issue of global concern that is pushing wildlife populations to the brink of extinction. Rhinos killed by poachers in South Africa have surged from 13 in 2007, to 668 in 2012. Already more than 200 rhinos have been killed in South Africa since the beginning of 2013, with other African and now also Asian countries experiencing a surge in rhino poaching.

“We are seeking support and cooperation from many corporates, businesses, celebrities, universities, international organizations and mass media who all have an important voice in reaching and influencing the community” Ms Nguyen Thuy Quynh said.

Large campaign

The adverts will be displayed through many different communication channels, including mass media such as newspapers, television, in public areas as well as social media platforms like Facebook. In partnership with Mindshare, a global marketing and media network, WWF and TRAFFIC have been able to secure a number of placements including in hundreds of offices and residential buildings, airports, corporate offices and universities throughout Viet Nam.

Support them on Facebook

The public can support and join the campaign by visiting facebook.com/Vietnamwwf and pledging their commitment not to use rhino horn.

In order to help stem the poaching crisis, and to strengthen, elevate and accelerate Viet Nam’s efforts to address the country’s illegal trade in, and consumption of rhino horn, WWF and TRAFFIC have launched a national campaign against the illegal trade of rhino horn. The campaign is seeking better law enforcement, more effective deterrents against traders and sellers and a reduction in demand for rhino horn in Viet Nam.

To learn more about WWF and TRAFFIC’s global campaign against the illegal trade in wildlife, visit traffic.org/illegal-trade-campaign or panda.org/killthetrade.

Related articles

• Smuggled rhino horns seized in HCM City (vietnamnews.vn)
• Commend Conservationists on Successful Rescue of Orphaned Rhinoceros (forcechange.com)
• From rhino horn to smelly feet (wildlifenews.co.uk)
• Vietnam seizes 7kg of rhino horn: state media (dailystar.com.lb)
• In Vietnam, Rhino Horn is the Drug of Choice at both Parties and Hospitals | Smart News (spiritandanimal.wordpress.com)
• Vietnam seizes 7kg of rhino horn: state media (arabtimesonline.com)
• Wildlife Managers Are Poisoning Rhino Horns to Stop People From Eating Them (blogs.smithsonianmag.com)
• Vietnam and South Africa Have Pledged to Close a Huge Rhino Loophole (motherboard.vice.com)

Chinese pro-wildlife campaign

This video says about itself:

Yao Ming — What I Found

Published on Apr 15, 2013

Former NBA star and Chinese icon, Yao Ming, launched a major public awareness campaign targeting consumption of ivory and rhino horn in China in partnership with African Wildlife Foundation, WildAid, and Save the Elephants.

From the African Wildlife Foundation:

Africa: Yao Ming Says No to Ivory and Rhino Horn

16 April 2013

Washington, DC — Surveys find Chinese public highly supportive of wildlife protection but unaware of African poaching crises

April 16th, Beijing: Today, former NBA star and Chinese icon, Yao Ming, launched a major public awareness campaign targeting consumption of ivory and rhino horn in China in partnership with WildAid, Save the Elephants, African Wildlife Foundation, and the Yao Ming Foundation.

In August 2012, Yao spent 12 days on a fact-finding mission in Kenya and South Africa filming a documentary to be aired in partnership with NHNZ later this year. Yao met wild elephants before encountering the bodies of five poached elephants in Kenya and a poached rhino in South Africa.

He also visited local school children, whose education is funded through wildlife tourism revenue, and conservationists and government officials working to protect elephants and rhinos. Footage and stills from his trip were released together with a series of public service announcements informing consumers, “When the buying stops, the killing can too.” …

Poaching for ivory kills more than 25,000 elephants annually and has reached levels only seen before the 1989 international trade ban. In 2012, 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone. These are precipitous increases from just a few years ago and, if not stemmed, could lead to the extinction of African rhinos and elephants in our lifetime.

A survey conducted in November of 2012 in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou by the Chinese research company, HorizonKey, found that:

More than half of the nearly 1,000 participants (over 50%) do not think elephant poaching is common; 34%, or one in three respondents, believe ivory is obtained from natural elephant mortality; Only 33% of all participants believe elephants are poached for their tusks; and 94% of residents agree the “Chinese government should impose a ban on the ivory trade.”

Although the international trade in ivory is banned, a one-off sale in 2008 perpetuated a legal market for ivory in China and Japan. Reports show widespread abuse of the system to launder illegal ivory in China, and seizure and intelligence reports indicate China is the world’s largest market for ivory.

Meanwhile, a similar survey conducted by HorzionKey in the same three major Chinese cities on rhino horn perceptions found that:

66% of all participants, that is two out of every three respondents, are not aware that rhino horn comes from poached rhinos; Nearly 50% believed rhino horn can be legally purchased from official stores; and 95% of residents agree the “Chinese government should take stricter action to prevent use of rhino horns.”

Traditional Chinese Medicine officially removed rhino horn from the pharmacopeia in China in 1993. These surveys, however, discovered that consumers are now buying rhino horn due to belief in its aphrodisiac properties and fever reducing capabilities. Rhino horn is also being used as a perceived investment and as an ornament or carving.

…

The attitudinal ivory and rhino horn surveys highlight the importance of Yao’s involvement in this campaign and the urgent need for him to continue to positively influence his fellow countrymen.

Kenyan researcher David Daballen, of Save the Elephants, stated, “Because of the demand for ivory, poaching has erupted all over Africa leading to the slaughter of tens of thousands of elephants each year.

These elephants are not only a part of our world, they are a part of our heritage and our family. We need the Chinese peoples’ help to save our elephants by saying no to ivory.”

Added Dr. Philip Muruthi, Senior Director of conservation science for African Wildlife Foundation, “Rhinos are not threatened by loss of habitat, they are threatened by poaching for their horns for Asian markets. African Wildlife Foundation has been rapidly investing in key target landscapes across Africa to ensure that critical rhino populations are protected, through measures such as aerial surveillance, rapid-response teams, and more and better-equipped boots on the ground.”

WildAid’s Executive Director, Peter Knights, stated, “Elephants and rhinos are conservation flagships, national icons, goodwill ambassadors, and generate hundreds of millions of tourist dollars for African economies funding education and development; they are the pandas of Africa. We have seen illegal markets collapse in the face of strong clear laws, enforcement efforts, and consumer awareness campaigns in the past. By strongly implementing these proven measures, China could become a world leader in wildlife conservation and help save elephants and rhinos.”

Yao’s previous WildAid campaign with shark fin, backed extensively by Chinese media, is credited with a reduction of 50 – 70% in consumption of shark fin in China in 2012 according to shark fin traders, media, and Hong Kong import statistics. Yao’s campaign contributed to a Chinese government decision to remove shark fin soup from all state banquets over the next three years.

Yao stated, “Poaching threatens livelihoods, education, and development in parts of Africa due to the insecurity it brings and loss of tourism revenue. No one who sees the results firsthand, as I did, would buy ivory or rhino horn. I believe when people in China know what’s happening they will do the right thing and say no to these products.”

Related articles

• After Failure of Legal Ivory, Trade in Rhino Horn Would Be a Disaster (bushwarriors.org)
• No end to ivory poaching in sight as CITES ends (itv.com)
• Wildlife Managers Are Poisoning Rhino Horns to Stop People From Eating Them (blogs.smithsonianmag.com)
• Forget The Drug War – Time To Throw Those Forces Into The Poaching War (timzimmermann.com)
• The perfect poacher’s storm threatening endangered species (itv.com)
• Cites: bid to curb sale of ivory and rhino horn voted down (guardian.co.uk)
• On the way out (economist.com)
• 5 big breakthroughs at CITES 2013 (mnn.com)

Good Indian tiger, rhino news

From Wildlife Extra:

Translocated rhinos give birth in Manas National Park, Assam, India

Some good news for rhinos

March 2013. Amidst the recent spurt in poaching of rhinos in the north-east Indian state of Assam there is a reason to cheer. Two rhinos in the Manas National Park, translocated form Kaziranga National Park over the last two years, have both given birth.

Rhino 17, translocated to the Park in 2012 and Rhino 8, translocated to the park in 2011, were sighted on 23rd March and 25th March respectively with their new born calves by WWF-India researchers and Assam Forest Department staff involved in post release monitoring of the rhinos.

Hearing the news Diane Walkington, WWF director of international programmes said: “This is fantastic news. The birth of these calves is a great indication that the translocated rhinos are adapting well to the new environment and are beginning to thrive there”.

Rhino 8 was translocated to Manas in January 2011 and it is certain that the mating with one of the translocated males and subsequent pregnancy happened in Manas. These births indicate that the translocated rhinos are breeding successfully and have adapted well to the new environment. In total, three calves have been born to translocated rhinos in Manas National Park to date.

Relocation

The two rhinos were translocated as part of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 programme (IRV 2020) – a joint initiative of the Department of Environment and Forests, Government of Assam; WWF-India; the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, along with the Bodoland Territorial Council and supported by a number of local organisations. A total of 18 rhinos – ten from the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and eight from the Kaziranga National Park have been translocated so far to Manas National Park. The successes achieved under the programme until now are a result of the commitment and support extended to it by the different partners, stakeholders, local communities and forest staff of the different Protected Areas of Assam.

Under IRV 2020, Manas National Park has been provided with support to upgrade its infrastructure and monitoring capabilities to enable better protection for the translocated rhinos. It is now important to ensure the safety of these new-born calves and their mothers as well as the other rhinos in Manas so that the vision of establishing a viable rhino population is achieved over the long term.

New translocation site identified

WWF and IRF are excited at the prospect of partnering with the Assam Forest Department to return rhinos to the Laokhowa-Burachapori complex in Assam in the coming years, a site from where they were poached out in the 1980s.

The high demand for rhino horn in the illegal wildlife trade continues to be the biggest threat this newly established rhino population is facing with three translocated rhinos having fallen prey to poachers in the past two years. WWF and IRF, as constituents and partners of the IRV 2020 programme, continue to support the Assam Forest Department in its endeavour to provide a safe and secure future for Assam’s rhinos spread across different Protected Areas.

See also here.

Also from Wildlife Extra:

Camera-traps show tigers using wildlife corridor in Kerala

Success of tiger corridor very encouraging

March 2013. Camera-traps have recorded three healthy adult tigers in Kerala, in a wildlife corridor funded by World Land Trust (WLT), IUCN-Netherlands and Elephant Family. The pictures are a positive indication of the success of the Tirunelli-Kudrakote corridor, which runs through the Wayanad district of Kerala in southern India.

Wide range of wildlife

“We are all very pleased to see the increased usage of the corridor by a wide range of animals and capturing these tigers on film is very exciting,” said Sandeep Kr. Tiwari, Deputy Director at Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), WLT’s conservation partner in India.

Sandeep’s team is monitoring the corridor, which provides an important protected pathway for wildlife moving between Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and Wayanad North Division further leading to Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary.

Reducing animal-human conflict

In a landscape dominated by humans, secure wildlife corridors provide a wider area for animals to roam safely. This in turn increases the animals’ prospects of survival and reduces human-wildlife conflict.

“It’s really satisfying to see the unhindered movement of animals (tiger, elephants, gaurs, etc) through the corridor, post securement,” explains Sandeep. He is confident that the success of the Wayanad corridor will encourage and strengthen WTI’s commitments to work towards securing other critical bridges between reserves.

Elephants, sloth bear and a range of deer and cats

The camera-traps were set by Ramith Meledath, a WTI field biologist working on the Wayanad corridor securement project. He describes some of the animals that have been sighted: “Elephant herds and solitary bull elephants are frequently using the corridor. The corridor is also used by animals like Sloth Bear, Leopard Cat, Jungle Cat, Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Spotted Deer, Sambar Deer, mongooses, monkeys etc. The camera trapping also shows that secured areas in the corridor are facilitating new territories for individual tigers.”

Conservation partnership success

World Land Trust has been working with WTI for a decade to create protected corridors that connect existing forest reserves in India. WLT’s primary focus is securing land for elephants, because by providing habitat for a ‘flagship’ species like the Asian elephant, wildlife corridors benefit a huge range of other creatures, including the tiger.

The Tirunelli-Kudrakote corridor was the second one secured by funds raised by WLT and our partner IUCN-Netherlands and also Elephant Family. The first corridor was the Siju-Rewak corridor in Meghalaya in the Garo Hills of NE India.

Corbett corridor

Following the success of the corridors to date, WLT is raising funds to create a wildlife corridor in Uttarakhand in northern India, between the Corbett National Park protected area and the neighbouring Ramnagar forest, where there is increasing conflict between tigers and humans.

Help support this initiative

You can support the India Elephant Corridors Appeal by donating to WLT’s Action Fund and specifying Elephant Appeal.

Related articles

• Baby rhinos signal success of Assam translocation (wwf.panda.org)
• GREAT NEWS FROM INDIA – Two Baby Rhinos Born in Manas! (sotinpc.wordpress.com)
• Translocated rhino in Manas breeds calf (assamtribune.com)
• Rhino Poaching Crisis Expands (environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com)
• Indian ‘problem’ tiger now safe in national park (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Rhino poaching in Assam, India (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Horn Please! Rhino on the horizon (thehindu.com)
• Poachers kill rare rhinos in India’s remote northeast (terradaily.com)
• Poachers already killed 15 rare rhinos in northeast Indian preserve in 2013 (rawstory.com)

Endangered Sumatran rhino rediscovery in Indonesian Borneo

This video says about itself:

A rhino love story by David Attenborough

Jan 31, 2013

This piece is from the Natural World Special film: Attenborough’s Ark, where David Attenborough considers 10 unusual species he would like to save from extinction.

Number two on the list is the smallest of the rhino family, the Sumatran Rhino – critically endangered with numbers in the wild estimated around 200. We filmed the efforts of a Sumatran conservation rebreeding programme, who in June 2012 successfully bred the first ever captive born Sumatran Rhino in Sumatra. This is their story.

From Wildlife Extra:

Critically Endangered Sumatran Rhino rediscovered in Indonesian Borneo

WWF team find footprints of rhinos on Borneo

March 2013. A WWF team on the island of Borneo to monitor [the] Orang-utan population have discovered what they believe to be the footprints of a critically endangered Sumatran rhinoceros, where it was believed that the rhino had been extinct for some time.

The WWF staff were monitoring a population of orang-utans in West Kutai district of East Kalimantan. Having discovered the footprints, they conducted a further survey of the area along with government forestry officials and scientists from a local university. The survey discovered further footprints, and some horn scratches at mud holes, as well as trees used as rubbing posts and bite marks on plants, raising the possibility that there may be more than one lone animal, though numbers remain unclear.

The Sumatran rhino was believed to have been extinct in Indonesian Borneo since the 1990s; and fewer than 200 animals exist anywhere in the world in the wild, still living in the wild in Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to the WWF: Current population & distribution

The Borneo Sumatran rhino is now possibly extinct in Sarawak (Malaysia) and Kalimantan (Indonesia), with perhaps fewer than 25 surviving in Sabah (Malaysia). A 2005 survey in the interior of Sabah found evidence of at least 13 rhinos, and scattered individuals are found in other parts of the state.

Read more about the Sumatran rhino on the WWF website.

Indonesian and Malaysian governments agree to work together to save Sumatran rhino: here.

Talking about Indonesian Borneo: March 2013. Pulp timber suppliers to controversial paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) are continuing to log tropical forest and dig drainage canals through peat soils in Kalimantan, regardless of the new Forest Conservation Policy (FCP) launched with much fanfare by APP and parent group Sinar Mas last month: here.

Related articles

• WWF Discovers Rare Sumatran Rhino Footprint In Borneo (latinospost.com)
• Pretty Pictures and Rummaging Rhinos (bloggerheadseaturtle.wordpress.com)
• Sumatran rhino footprints believed found on Borneo (pinoychizmiz.wordpress.com)
• Footprints Belonging to Endangered Sumatran Rhino Found in Indonesia (scienceworldreport.com)

Rhinoceros news update

This video says about itself:

Baby rhino calf finds friends in the wild after abandoned by mother- BBC wildlife

An abandoned rhinoceros calf finds an unlikely friend in a warthog when it is reared in an animal sanctuary. Wild animals in the African desert fight for survival.

From Wildlife Extra:

One year on from major rhino poaching incident, some hope with new calf

Anniversary of death of rhino bull after poaching and new rhino calf born

March 2013. In March 2012, three white rhinos were shot by poachers on Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. One of the rhinos died instantly, but two survived the initial attack.

A rush of support groups and fundraising initiatives emerged in order to help provide Thandi and Themba with funds for the best possible care and chance for survival. Wildlife veterinarian Dr William Fowlds and the Kariega staff did everything they could, working tirelessly to save the lives of Thandi and Themba. For more than three weeks both rhino showed an incredible will too survive. Tragically, on 25 March 2012 after 23 days of brave fighting Themba passed away.

Miraculously one of the rhinos survived, showing inspirational bravery and a strong will to live.

As fate would have it, almost exactly one year later Kariega welcomes a new rhino calf to their game reserve.

Lowest point

Themba’s life is being commemorated by the Kariega team, Dr Fowlds and other rhino conservation supporters. This comment made by Dr Fowlds on the day of Themba’s death last year is even more relevant today, “The past day’s events have taken me to the lowest point of my battle to help save a species. I know many others feel the same. What we do now is the true test of our resolve to overcome the evil that threatens to overwhelm the world’s remaining rhino. Our ability to act, to actually do something to make a difference, will be the measure of who we are.”

The birth of a rhino calf, one year after poaching incident

A new baby rhino, a girl, was born a year after three rhinos were brutally attacked on Kariega Game Reserve.

Although it is uncertain whether her horn will ever grow back, Thandi continued to go from strength to strength and one year on has made a full recovery. The serendipitous birth of a healthy white rhino calf almost exactly one year after the poaching incident has been cause for celebration at Kariega, as they remember and commemorate the lives and struggles of Thandi, Themba and the unnamed rhino bull.

Thandi and Themba’s story of hope has travelled and inspired people from across the globe – their fight for life translated into the fight of rhino across southern Africa for the right to life, and of those committed to ensuring the survival of the rhino species.

Graeme Rushmere, co-owner of Kariega Game Reserve comments: “The fight of Thandi and Themba is just one story representing the brutality being carried out against the rhino species. At Kariega, it is our hope that their struggle is not in vein and inspires all wildlife lovers to take up the cause so that our little ones can live to see a ripe old age. Although it may seem a small triumph in the grand scheme of rhino conservation, the birth of a new calf helps remind us that there is always hope.”

The realities of rhino poaching

Over the last few years rhino poaching has increased dramatically, causing a serious threat to the rhino species. In 2007 there were 13 rhino lost to poaching in South Africa, however in 2012 the figure soared to a shocking 668.

The onslaught against southern African rhino’s is a devastating blow to rhino conservation – at the beginning of the 20th century there were an estimated 50 white rhino which repopulated to around 17,000 by 2008. This success in conservation is now threatened by a growing demand in rhino horn, feeding the traditional Asian medicine market. If poaching continues to increase at its current rate, the rhino population could be wiped out in a few decades.

Although poaching is concentrated in southern Africa (which holds the majority of the world’s rhino population), various rhino species across the globe have also been targeted. In 2011 the Western Black Rhino of Africa was declared extinct, and currently the Javan Rhino of Asia and the Northern White Rhino of Africa teeter on the brink of extinction.

Surge in rhino horn seizures at Shanghai Airport: here.

March 2013. There seems to be no let up from rhino poaching around the world, as reports keep appearing of rhinos being killed and rhino horns being seized on different continets: here.

From Wildlife Extra:

Irish connection to major rhino horn thefts and smuggling ring

Two Irish brothers fined just 500 Euros for smuggling 8 rhino horns

March 2013. Two men from Ireland have been fined just €500 for smuggling 8 rhino horns worth almost €500,000 through Shannon Airport.

Brothers Jeremiah and Michael O’Brien were stopped in Shannon Airport after getting off a plane from Portugal. The defence told the court that the horns were antique, dating from the 1960s, and not from a freshly killed rhino. The brothers claimed that they acquired the horns from a Portuguese antique dealer named Hernandez, who entrusted the horns to the O’Briens ‘to mount them on a board’ before returning with them to Portugal.

Separate incident

In a separate incident, another man from Limerick has been extradited to the UK in connection with the robbery of a rhino horn from an antique dealer. Michael Kealy is accused of stealing a rhino horn from an antique dealer in a Macdonald’s car park.

Irish gang

In fact Europol have been investigating links between an Irish gang and rhino horn smuggling for at least 2 years. The investigation was launched after a spate of robberies around Europe where rhino horns were stolen from museums and antique dealers. The gang members are almost from the town Rathkeale, just south west of Limerick, in Ireland, which makes it all the more surprising that the O’Brien brothers, who also hail from Rathkeale, were find just 500 Euros for being in possession of 8 rhino horns.

Europol states “Significant players within this area of crime have been identified as an Irish and ethnically-Irish organised criminal group, who are known to use intimidation and violence to achieve their ends. To source and acquire rhino horns, the group has targeted antique dealers, auction houses, art galleries, museums, private collections and zoos, resorting to theft and aggravated burglary where necessary. To sell specimens, they have exploited international auction houses in the UK, France, USA and China. Elements of this group are also involved in a variety of other serious crimes across the European Union such as drugs trafficking, organised robbery, distribution of counterfeit products, tarmac fraud and money laundering. Outside the EU, they have been active in North and South America, South Africa, China and Australia.”

Arrested in Switzerland

Two members of the gang were also arrested in Switzerland in 2012 in possession of counterfeit cash totalling 120,000 Euros, and they are also thought to have been under investigation in the USA in connection with the smuggling of rhino horns.

Related articles

• Coldplay Backs Up Rhino Conservation!!! (newswatch.nationalgeographic.com)
• Horn Please! Rhino on the horizon (thehindu.com)
• Poaching to Cause Fall in Rhino Population within Two Years (scienceworldreport.com)
• 7-member gang of rhino poachers nabbed (thehindu.com)
• Six Rhinos Escape Poaching (sotinpc.wordpress.com)

Conservation awards to Bangladesh, Kenya, Indonesia

Translated from the Dutch of Warner Strategy & Fundraising in the Netherlands:

Presentation Future for Nature Awards, a success

Friday, 22/02/2013 5:39 p.m.

The Future for Nature Awards 2013 this Friday were issued at Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem. Three young talented conservationists Lucy King, Samia Saif and Rudy H. Putra received the Future for Nature Awards from the world-famous chimpanzee protector Jane Goodall. The winners received a check for 50,000 euros to continue their work. More than 500 interested people were present at the ceremony in Burgers’ Zoo.

…

About the winners

Samia Saif (27) from Bangladesh won the award for her research into tiger poaching in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh. Risking her own life, she charted how the poachers in the area work.

Rudy H. Putra (35) from Indonesia is committed to the rhinos in Indonesia. For his work in the Leuser region he won the Future for Nature Award. In the field he is trying to develop a better habitat for the rhinos so that the population in the area will expand again.

Lucy King (35) from Kenya receives her award for her work with elephants and bees in Kenya. They proved that elephants are afraid of swarms of honeybees. Strategically making beehive fences around fields will make elephants walk around fields instead of going through them and thus destroying everything.

Related articles

• Kenya suspends top wildlife officials in poaching probe (capitalfm.co.ke)
• Polar bears, elephants and rhinos fail to get backing from CITES officials (wildlifenews.co.uk)
• Red Elephants Of Kenya (uniquedaily.com)
• Leuser Ecosystem Under Serious Threat (endoftheicons.wordpress.com)
• Praise Bravery of Villagers in Kenya Who Protected Elephants From Poachers (forcechange.com)

Rhino poaching in Assam, India

This video from India is called Tigers, Water Buffalos, Rhinos in Kaziranga Megafauna Park.

From Wildlife Extra:

Assam demands national investigation into rhino poaching in India

Assam calls for probe into rhino poaching – Written by Nava Thakuria

February 2013. The Assam government in northeast India has asked for the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation to investigate the rampant poaching of rhinoceros in various forest reserves of the tiny State. Assam chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, has personally made this commitment recently, and the Assam government has written to the Union government in New Delhi requesting a high level probe.

2500 rhinos in Assam

Assam’s forest reserves contain more than 2500 rare one-horned rhinoceros out of a world population of around 3000, and large quantities of other rare and important wildlife. Kaziranga National Park in central Assam is the hot-spot for the rhinos, but has suffered increasingly from poaching in the last year or two. The last 13 months seem to be worst as the park has lost around 50 rhinos to natural disasters and poachers. Poachers took away more than 25 rhino horns in this period after killing the animals.

The value of a single rhino horn in the international market has sky-rocketed; as many people in China and Vietnam mistakenly believe that the horn carries an aphrodisiac quality and is a cure for cancer. Rhino horn is made from keratin, the same substance in human hair.

Students’ organizations, opposition political parties and various wildlife NGOs have organised street protests, crying fouls at the inability of the State forest department to protect the wildlife. On numerous occasions effigies of Assam forest minister Rockybul Hussain have been burnt. Chief Minister Gogoi was also targeted by some angry citizens on different occasions for his callous attitude towards the issue.

Forest officials involved?

Nature’s Beckon, an Assam NGO, alleges that few officials of the Assam Forest Department are involved in the rhino horn trafficking. Soumyadeep Dutta, director of Nature’s Beckon, claimed that some corrupt forest officials were involved in the poaching of rhinos. He maintained his demand that the CBI should also probe the security of all the rhino horns preserved by the department after recovery.

Rhino horns stolen from government warehouses

“We suspect that most of the preserved rhino horns have been sold in the illegal market by the corrupt officials and those are being replaced with fake horns. So we demand a high level probe to investigate the authenticity of the horns,” Dutta added.

The State opposition parties have criticized Gogoi for his ‘surrender’ to the poachers. They were unanimous in their opinions that Gogoi was only trying his best to safeguard his forest minister.

The All Assam Students Union has been critical of the State forest department. The students’ organizations have blocked the National Highway 37 adjacent to Kaziranga National Park several times to raise their voices against the wildlife poaching.

March 2013. As the rhino poaching crisis, hits new troughs, some snake oil salesmen from South Africa want to enrich themselves by selling ‘snake oil’ to the Vietnamese. In this case, the snake oil comes in the form of rhino horn, which some rhino farmers in South Africa want to sell legally to Vietnamese businessmen who will sell it in Vietnam as a cure all for cancer: here.

Related articles

• Students blockade road as 8th rhino found dead in Kaziranga (wildlifenews.co.uk)
• Assam asks Centre for CBI investigation into rhino poaching (ndtv.com)
• Shoot-at-sight orders at Kaziranga park could be considered (ibnlive.in.com)
• Indian authorities investigating poachers’ use of AK-47s to kill rhinos in remote northeast (vancouverdesi.com)
• Rhino killed in Assam (thehindu.com)
• Assam opposition slams Gogoi over rhino poaching (indiavision.com)
• Rhino poaching crisis spreads to India (wwf.panda.org)
• Poachers using AK-47s to kill rare, one-horned rhinos in India (ctvnews.ca)

New elephant, rhinoceros discoveries

From the BBC:

26 December 2012 Last updated at 00:41

Rhinos and elephants: the secret lives of Africa‘s giants

By Matt Walker, Editor, BBC Nature

Rhinos and elephants have a range of remarkable behaviours and adaptations, many of which we are only just learning.

Emerging through the twilight, a beast lumbers forward, sniffing, snorting, searching for something.

One of the largest animals to walk the earth, it is on a surprising mission.

This black rhino is embarking on a midnight journey, seeking out other rhinos in the dark to socialise and mate with, sharing some never-before-seen tender moments.

The behaviour, captured by filmmakers for the landmark programme Africa, a BBC / Discovery co-production, is one of a number of once secret activities undertaken by some of the largest land animals of all.

Africa – a landmark

• Africa begins on BBC One on 2 January 2013 at 21.00GMT
• Watch and learn about the Kalahari, Savannah, Congo, Cape and Sahara

Because despite their size, we are only just beginning to notice some remarkable behaviours and adaptations of elephants and rhinos.

These two groups are the largest terrestrial animals.

The three species of elephant range from 5.5 tonnes for an average male African bush elephant to 2.7 tonnes for female Asian elephants. Rhinos, of which there are five species, can exceed 3.5 tonnes.

Their size makes them relatively easy to spot and an easy target for poachers, who continue to hunt both groups of large mammal in significant numbers: elephants mainly for ivory in their tusks and rhinos for their horns.

They have all been extensively studied by scientists, in the field and also in wildlife parks, breeding centres and zoos.

But much about them, and what they get up to, remains a mystery, with many discoveries into their behaviour and adaptations only being made recently.

We are still struggling to understand just how unique are different populations of these megafauna.

What do black rhinos get up to at night?

For example, only in 2010 was it confirmed that there are two species of African elephant, the bush and forest elephant.

The same year, scientists controversially suggested that the northern and white rhinos are so distinct in appearance and genetics, that they should be classified as separate species, taking the number of living rhino species to six.

This year, other scientists published research concluding that we still don’t understand how different black rhino populations are to one another.

Such work is more than academic; if northern white rhinos are a unique species they immediately become one of the rarest of all, as just a handful survive.

Last century, black rhinos disappeared faster than any large mammal, primarily due to hunting. Understanding the true diversity of the remaining rhinos allows conservationists to work out how best to save them.

Big bodies

Recently, we have learnt more about how these animals function.

Unlike their African cousins, Asian elephants don’t use their ears to shed heat (shown blue as they are cool)

Scientists are only just discovering why elephants have a fine coating of body hair, rather than the thick pelage of most mammals. Only a few mammals, including humans and seals, have such little body hair.

The answer is that elephant body hair actually helps the large mammals regulate their body temperature, according to a PLoS One study published in October.

Elephants are so large they have the highest body-volume to skin-surface ratio of any terrestrial animal, which means they have the most difficulty in keeping cool, especially under the hot African sun.

The fine hairs covering their body, which help shed heat, enhance their ability to keep cool by a minimum of 5% and more than 20% when wind speeds are low, when the elephants need to cool most.

African elephants also use their ears to shed heat, whereas Asian elephants rely on their trunks to do similar.

This year, Gary Haynes of the University of Nevada-Reno in the US, managed to quantify, for the first time, the degree to which elephants are capable of engineering the land around them.

Sociable and compassionate

His study, published in Geomorphology, showed how elephants’ trails, used and reused over centuries, can create kilometre-long features across the African landscape.

These huge giants may shift several cubic metres of sediment during each excavation when digging for minerals, and deposit 2kg of dung onto each square metre of land.

Elephants in Mali have just been found to roam further than any other in Africa, travelling in huge circles across their range.

Sophisticated minds

But is it the once-hidden, subtle aspects to these huge animals’ personalities that perhaps intrigue the most.

Individual African bush elephants do have distinct personalities. In September scientists showed how captive elephants consistently display four distinct personality types; being fearful, sociable, aggressive or effective, a effective elephant being one that gets its own way by controlling other elephants.

In the same month, researchers found that the personalities of six critically endangered northern white rhinos held in a zoological park in the Czech Republic significantly affected how they behaved when placed together into a new group. When the oldest and only wild-born female rhino was removed, the other female rhinos both fought and played more often, revealing a hitherto unknown social hierarchy between them.

Rhinos and elephants are also capable of very social, tender exchanges.

Rhino spotting

• There are five species of rhino alive: white, black, Indian, Javan and Sumatran. This becomes six species if northern and southern white rhinos are distinct
• Black rhinos can be spotted by their pointed or hook-shaped upper lip

A review last year into how animals behave towards diseased, disabled or dying relatives reveals how touching some of this behaviour is.

It details a moment in 2006 witnessed by elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton of the conservation organisation Save the Elephants, based in Nairobi, Kenya.

A dying matriarch elephant had been abandoned by her herd and was struggling to stand. She was approached by the matriarch of another herd, who repeatedly used her tusks to help bring the collapsed elephant to her feet, in what the researchers described as an act of compassion.

Some of these tender moments have even been caught on camera.

As part of the Africa documentary, filmmakers for the BBC and Discovery managed to film, for the first time, black rhinos gathering at night.

Abandoning their usual solitary lifestyles, the rhinos meet around a watering hole.

Filmed using a starlight camera, the supposedly intemperate rhinos meet and greet one another, socialising and forming partnerships.

A young female is even filmed being wooed by two males, before mating with a large male of her choice.

A nocturnal tryst, the like of which was unknown until now.

Social structure of elephant families altered by poaching: here.

Related articles

• United States stamps for endangered animals (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Update on Faraja, our adopted baby elephant! (south-african-hotels.com)
• Extinct elephant ‘survived late’ (bbc.co.uk)
• African elephants reduced to dire levels (abc.net.au)
• Mali, Africa’s most northern elephants (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Asian elephants’ social networks research (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Why are Elephants an Endangered Species (wanttoknowit.com)
• Elephant poaching to record high in 2011 (bigpondnews.com)
• Clinton calls on world leaders to end African elephant slaughter (cbsnews.com)

Indian rhino and tiger news

This video is called TIGER RELEASED IN MANAS NATIONAL PARK, ASSAM, INDIA.

From Wildlife Extra:

14 tigers identified in Manas National Park & rhino gives birth

India/Bhutan cross border park tiger study finds 14 tigers

October 2012. The results of the first combined tiger monitoring study undertaken by Bhutan and India in the trans border Manas National Park identified 14 individual tigers, five each in Manas Tiger Reserve in India and Royal Manas National Park and four being common to both parks.

Rhino birth

One of the female rhinos translocated from the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary to the Manas National Park has given birth to a calf. The rhino, romantically designated as ‘Rhino 10′ was translocated in January 2012. A total of 18 rhinos – ten from Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and eight from Kaziranga National Park have been translocated so far to Manas National Park.

The birth indicates that the translocated rhinos have adapted well to the new environment and are beginning to thrive. This is the first offspring to be born to a translocated rhino in Manas.

Under IRV 2020, Manas National Park has been provided much support to upgrade its infrastructure and monitoring capabilities to enable better protection for the translocated rhinos.

Related articles

• WWF Helps Move Two Indian Rhinos to New Home in an Effort to Increase Population (prweb.com)
• Two Kaziranga rhinos succumb to wounds (thehindu.com)
• Indian rhino poacher caught but Chinese buyer escapes (wildlifenews.co.uk)
• 3 more rhinos found dead in Kaziranga (thehindu.com)
• Poachers target rhinos in flood-hit NE India (terradaily.com)
• Call for fresh strategy to protect rhinos (assamtribune.com)
• India sets up rhino protection force (telegraph.co.uk)

World Rhino Day in Namibia

This video from South Africa is called World Rhino Day 2011 – United Against Poaching.

From The Namibian in Namibia:

Namibia: World Rhino Day On Saturday

By Adam Hartman, 20 September 2012

Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) Namibia will be joining others around the world in celebrating World Rhino Day on Saturday.

For 30 years, SRT’s tracking teams have been protecting the desert-adapted black rhino population in the Kunene and Erongo regions of Namibia.

On World Rhino Day, individuals and businesses can show their appreciation for SRT’s efforts by making a donation to support the work of the organisation that has been monitoring and patrolling Namibia’s rhinos for three decades.

The World Rhino Day tradition was started in 2010 as an opportunity for people all over the world to take a stand against rhino poaching and the illegal trade in rhino horn.

These ancient mammals are under siege – all because of misguided beliefs about rhino horn’s alleged medicinal value. It is believed it can cure anything from a headache to cancer.

World Rhino Day 2012 will be a special day of celebration for all five species of rhino around the world, hence this year’s theme: ‘Five Rhino species forever’.

The five rhino species are the black and white rhinos found in Africa, the greater one-horned rhino found in India and Nepal, the Sumatran rhino of South-East Asia and the Javan rhino, most of them confined to the Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia.

The Save the Rhino Trust is organising some fun events at Swakopmund to commemorate the day.

Children will help to raise awareness by collecting donations outside selected shops on Saturday morning. Some of SRT’s trackers will also be in town and people can talk to them about rhino tracking and find out more about the work SRT does.

In the evening, a cocktail function will be held with a presentation on rhino conservation by Save the Rhino Trust field staff.

“Local businesses have been so supportive and we have amazing lucky draw prizes and many special items to offer on a ‘silent auction’,” said Sue Wagner, SRT’s fundraising manager.

One of the silent auction prizes is a two-night stay for two people at Wilderness Safaris’ Desert Rhino Camp and this includes a rhino tracking experience with SRT trackers.

September 2012. WWF-South Africa (WWF-SA) has announced its new national programme to strengthen and support rhino conservation efforts in South Africa. The plan, which is in response to the dramatic increase in cases of rhino poaching, coincides with World Rhino Day 2012 on 22 September: here.

September 2012. WWF and the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) have announced a first-ever partnership with faith leaders from across Africa to unite against the killing of endangered species for the illegal wildlife trade. In an unprecedented move, 50 African religious representatives from different faiths and countries have come together to call for the end of illegal wildlife trade which is annihilating the continent’s elephant and rhino populations: here.