2013 is set to be the worst year yet for rhino poaching.
One of Africa’s most iconic animals is being hunted to extinction by poachers wanting to cash in on the outrageously lucrative Asian market for rhino horn.
One of the most distressing memories from my recent safari in Madikwe was the sight of a black rhino that had been slaughtered just a day earlier, its horn savagely removed.
This wasn’t some remote corner of the bush, this was within 300 metres of the NW parks headquarters building.
All of us had heard of the rhino poaching crisis but to see it here, right in front of our eyes inside a relatively small and open game reserve was truly shocking.
The carcass must have been visible from the windows of the HQ building.
How could this be allowed to happen?
It’s a subject that has been discussed on our forums and one which is vexing conservationists.
Unfortunately I don’t have a magic solution to the problem but what I can do is make sure that we keep publishing as much information as possible on the subject in the hope that as more people come to understand the gravity of this situation the more pressure builds on all parties to find a way to avert this crisis.
With that in mind I’m posting a link here to an excellent article by Steve and Ann Toon in a recent issue of Travel Africa Magazine
It does not make cheery reading, but you should read it anyway.