Born and raised in West Virginia, Megan Hippler has been writing environmental articles since Her work has appeared on the websites of various state government departments. Hippler has a Bachelor of Arts in environmental studies from Hollins University.
How Do Seals Defend Themselves? How Do Giant Pandas Survive? Adaptations of Lemurs. What Is the Life Cycle of the Cobra? How Fast Does a Rhino Run? How to Find an Armadillo's Burrow.
Sleeping Habits of Beavers. There is also the possibility that dehorning rhinos in one area simply transfers the risk to horned individuals in other areas. Dehorning has its place in rhino conservation and, although not a stand-alone solution, recent successes demonstrate that, used alongside other methods, dehorning can be used to protect rhinos.
Due to the invasive nature of dehorning, it should only be considered as a last resort under conditions of severe poaching threat. For example, although dehorning is not routinely practised in Kenya, its small population of Northern White Rhino is routinely dehorned due to the exceptional conservation value of being the last remaining individuals of the subspecies.
The first priority for all rhino conservationists should be to ensure adequate anti-poaching monitoring and security including intelligence-gathering to protect rhino populations, and only then should dehorning be considered, for is a rhino really a rhino without its horn?
Click here to read the Endangered Wildlife Trust study on the dehorning of African rhinoceros as a tool to reduce the risk of poaching.
Click here to read a paper by Raoul Du Toit and Natasha Anderson from the Lowveld Rhino Trust, whose research challenges some of the supposed consequences of dehorning. You must be logged in to post a comment. Ordering for Christmas? Make sure Santa arrives in time! Check postage dates Dismiss. Skip to content ACT. Members Area. Members Login. Hornless rhinos? How is dehorning carried out? A separate Vietnamese group reportedly includes middle- and upper-class mothers who purchase rhino horn as a traditional treatment for fevers.
A report lead by Alexandra Kennaugh, a conservation researcher and Illegal Wildlife Trade programme officer for the Oak Foundation, also found two distinct markets for rhino horn in China: a luxury market and a traditional medicine market. The report's survey of more than 2, people across five Chinese cities found that those who valued rhino horn as medicine—mostly to relieve fevers or pain—were less willing to pay for it as the price rose.
By comparison, those who valued rhino horn as a rare luxury good were still willing to pay through the nose for rhino horn beyond a certain price threshold. Aphrodisiac usage of rhino horn barely rated a mention in the report. When asked about preferences for using Chinese, Western or some combination of medicines, a very small percentage of Chinese respondents said they knew friends who had treated erectile dysfunction with rhino horn—but none actually named erectile dysfunction as a condition rhino horn could treat.
A study by U. The study showed the volume of rhino horns auctioned via legal loopholes in China between and — before Chinese authorities began strictly regulating such auctions—had a significant correlation with the rate of annual rhino poaching in South Africa.
His research published in Biological Conservation also specifically indicted Western media by comparing international English-speaking and Chinese coverage from to Still, Gao acknowledged ordinary people's lingering beliefs regarding the traditional medicine value remain a long-term challenge. On the bright side, traditional Chinese medicine experts have increasingly joined the fight to reduce the demand for rhino horn. When China officially banned the international trade in , it followed up by removing rhino horn as a medical ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine's pharmacopeia and curriculum.
Practitioners promoted alternative ingredients such as water buffalo horn and herbal substitutes. But she acknowledges the challenges of convincing some customers that the historical use of rhino horn need no longer apply. Females tend to be more sociable than the more solitary, territorial males. Javan and greater one-horned rhinos only have one horn, whereas all the other rhino species have two horns.
Their horns grow continuously during their lifetime — the white rhino's horn can grow 7cm every year — and the record length is cm long! But this is a precarious place to live. An active volcano is just 50km away. That's why establishing a safe site for another population of Javan rhinos in Indonesia is a priority.
During confrontations, they growl and make 'trumpet calls'. Rhinos also communicate through their poo and urine. When rhino poo in the same place as other rhinos — an area known as a latrine — they can smell the poo and urine of other individuals, and know who's in the area.
0コメント