Endangered rhinos slaughtered in Zimbabwe sanctuary as China footprint grows in Africa
At least six rhinos have reportedly been killed at the Nyamaneche Game Sanctuary in Zimbabwe. According to local sources, the killing occurred in an area close to Chinese chrome mining operations.
The [Zimbabwe Conservation] task force’s chairman Johnny Rodrigues said he believed a Chinese firm was mining chrome in this ecologically pristine area.
The three remaining rhinos at the Sanctuary are being moved to a safer location. A critically endangered black rhino was brutally slaughtered last month in Zimbabwe as he drank from a watering hole (warning: the photos are extremely graphic). Zimbabwe rhino population decimated The rhino killing epidemic of Southern Africa has hit Zimbabwe hard, and it is now estimated that only around 700 rhinos remain in the country. Decades of rhino conservation are at serious risk of being undermined by crime syndicates funded by the demand for illegal rhino horn, which is still used in traditional Chinese medicines. Last year, the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC found that Zimbabwe lost over 25 percent of its rhino population between 2006 and 2009 to illegal killing. This troubling figure includes 89 percent of all black rhinos killed on the continent. Spreading Chinese footprint in Africa Incidents linking the spreading Chinese footprint in Africa to both rhino and elephant killings have been escalating in recent years. Earlier this week, a critically endangered black rhino was killed in the world-famous Serengeti National Park, amid growing concerns that Tanzania’s warm relationship with China could lead to further problems with its precious pachyderms. In Southern Africa, there are increased reports of rhino killings in areas where Chinese newcomers are working and settling. The rhino killings appear to be concentrated along the Mozambique-South Africa border, the eastern border of South Africa’s Kruger National Park, down to KwaZulu-Natal, and into Zimbabwe. …
I think we need an open season on rhino hunters. Seriously, game wardens should be empowered to conduct summary executions. The hunters' bones should then be ground into a powder and sold as an aphrodisiac. No one would be able to tell the difference.