E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Workers hold a rhino during a media demonstration at the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve outside Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday. The rhino later died.
A conservation group demonstrating an anti-poaching method for reporters in South Africa accidentally killed the rhinoceros they were using in the demonstration.
The rhino, nicknamed Spencer, went into convulsions and died after he was shot with a tranquilizer dart in front of a crush of TV cameras and photographers who had been invited to document an operation to insert a poison capsule into his horn.
The private reserve near the capital, Pretoria, calls in veterinarians to sedate rhinos so their horns can be treated with a dye and an insecticide, and tracking and identification devices can be inserted.
A male in his mid to late 20s, fairly old for such an animal, could not be revived after being sedated Thursday, said Rhino Rescue Project spokeswoman Lorinda Hern.
"The rhino had an unfortunate reaction to the anesthesia," she said. "Every time you dart a rhino, you take a risk that the rhino might not wake up and unfortunately today was one of those days."
Conservation groups insert poison capsules into the horns of rhinos, which release poison into the horn when it is removed from the animal and are meant to render the horn value-less for hunters seeking to sell it on for use in traditional medicine.
Conservation groups sometimes remove horns from rhinos to deter poachers, as msnbc.com's Dara Brown reported in the video below. The horns are similar to hair or fingernails, and grow back after several months.
South Africa is trying to save black rhinos by having veterinarians cut off their valuable horns before poachers kill them. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports.
Both anti-poaching procedures require the rhinos to be sedated.
A decade ago South Africa, with more than 20,000 rhinos, was losing about 15 animals a year to poachers. But poaching has increased dramatically since about 2007 as the spread of wealth in places like Vietnam and Thailand has enabled more people to buy rhino horn, which is believed to have magical or medicinal properties in some cultures.
In museums across Europe, rhinoceros horns have been the target of thieves at least 30 times this year, as they go for $99,000 per kilo. Europe NBC's Jim Maceda reports.
A record 448 rhinos were killed by poachers last year in South Africa, home to the greatest number of the animals. The number was up sharply up from 122 in 2009 and 333 in 2010, according to a report by AllAfrica.com. A majority were killed in the Kruger National Park, which borders on Mozambique, the report said.
"It's sad for us; it's the loss of another animal," Hern said, referring to the rhino's death. "It's a death that I still chalk up to poaching."
Msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
They could have dsone their demonstration with words instead of murdering that Rhino .Freakin Eco-weiners .
WOW.....
We just lost WHITNEY HOUSTON TODAY.... and now we lost OPHRA WINFREY in a Poaching Demo...?...?... TRULY TRAGIC ! !
priceless
KINDA like throwing the baby out with the bathwater! IDIOTS!
At least they are on the right track. Something radical is the only answer. Having spent many years in Southern Africa especially in the bush, I have met many people involved in Rhino conservation. As things stand now, they all believe that they are still fighting a losing battle. What I am about to say has been discussed in detail with many of these people and the majority consider it actually could work. Controversial, yes, but is not worth it to save one of the oldest and most magnificent species on the planet. Veterinary specialists have assured me that there are long lasting toxins/toxicants/poisons available that could be introduced in various ways into the horn of the Rhino, which would not cause any harm to the animal itself. Depending on which were used; if taken internally by a human (rhino horn powder) they could cause anything from death to serious illness to incredible discomfort. It is my view that Rhino conservation has been targeting the wrong end i.e. Rhinos instead of users. If this process was undertaken with only a few Rhino and an enormous publicity campaign was targeted at S.E. Asia, I believe the illegal trade in rhino horn would collapse very quickly. The Rhino will only survive by doing something radical! There are many species in nature with toxins that are poisonous to humans, lets give the Rhino its own form of defense before it's too late.
So what did they do with the horn?
There is absolutely nothing better than a fresh rhino steak. If you are certain one is dying it should be butchered on the spot. I will fly to the corners of the earth for this.
Rhino burgers on the house! Seriously people its an animal. Just another reason why these halfwit, tree-huggin, do-gooders should spend there time more wisely. How many children in Africa went to bed hungry last night? How many people died there yesterday from disease? Does everyone on the continent have fresh water to drink? Too many people trying to save the whales, rhinos, tigers, blah, blah, blah.... and not enough people trying to save the human race! I don't believe any animal should be tortured or killed for no good reason, but maybe the poachers needed the money to feed their families. (That sentence will surely anger most of you clowns!) Its simple people, care more about people - especially the kids - and the animals can take care of themselves.
OOh please. Save the human race? That's all the human race does! It spends every waking hour of the day worrying about itself and nothing else....yet there is such a thing as "ecology" and no matter how hard mankind tries to remove itself from that equation the simple fact of the matter is that were are a part of it and cannot and will not survive without it. But....in direct response to your point. Why don't you make a list of national and international charitable aide orginizations all over the world,both private and governmental who do nothing else, but cater to the human race and then run a list of wildlife aide foundations and see who comes out on top in funding and effort.
If people truly worried about eachother they'd put far more effort into balancing "ecology" with every other self serving act than they do, because no matter how much humanitarian aide is passed around, in the long run it won't make a tinkers damn when the ecology of this earth fails to the point it can't support the human race ! Make no mistake...no matter what we do to destroy ourselves when humans are gone the earth will resurrect itself and long survive us. But, thats not really the point is it? The point from your perspective is to do everything possible to insure mankinds survival at the expense of ignoring the ecology that humans are directly dependant on to do so. Strange concept to me...but hey its your life.LOL.
Hunt, I'm sorry, but our survival has very little to do with the survival of the large showy animal species like pandas and rhinos. I would hate to see them disapear, but logically we should be more concerned with things like ocean algae because it produces a lot of our oxygen.
Isn't THAT ironic? Their incompetence killed the poor rhino and they're still going to try to lay the blame elsewhere.
No Lorinda, poachers didn't kill the rhino. Your group of morons did.
I fail to see how this can possibly be blamed on illegal big-game hunters who weren't even THERE. Is it because I'm too dumb to see the connection, or am I the only one left with a shred of common sense? It looks as though the conservationists were the ones who drugged the rhino, not the poachers. And yet, they attempt to shift the blame... what a bunch of dumkopfs!
Jon,
not to mince words or invalidate your point....but
'big game hunters" is not what these poachers are,many of them are well armed fomer military or militia from these war torn countrys turned mercenary poachers for hire. They are along the same caliber as the Somali pirates and hunting isn't even a term for what they do.
Can rhino meat be eaten? Not trying to make light of the subject, just curious.
hahaha thats funny
Looks like an episode from the "Three Stooges". How self serving this group is. They really "stepped in it" this time. How about JAIL TIME for killing protected wildlife. Off course, JAIL TIME in the COUNTRY this unspeakable act occurred, for all those involved.
You know at least they are trying. Its as if most on here have never made a mistake and in all the years.... and its been decades worth of physical effort and promotional efforts through the media to raise awareness ...exactly how many times has this happened? Do all you people really hate conservationists that much? I don't understand it.
No matter how many think ill of them,who denies that they are a necessary evil. This is a completely different world and no one gives a sh$t about anything that doesn't directly concern them anymore...or at least don't give enough of one to actively do something about it... so thank God for these people!
I'm an outdoorsman i make my living taking people hunting and fishing, so by todays standards of complete division between those of us who are natural resource consumptive and conservation groups... i ought to be on the front line rallied against these sorts of orginizations...but i'm not and never have been and never will be. Neither we, nor they have all the answers to the problems of dwindling habitats and natural resources on this earth.... but i applaud their efforts to find one!! And anyone who gives two cents about the natural world should as well!
No matter how much you disagree with their approach's and attitudes at least they are out there doing what they can and how in the name of God can that be a bad thing!!
OK...you can say that their heart was in the right place, but I must use the phrase "epic fail". Sad, ironic. What bugs me is that said poachers wouldn't even know the horn is 'poisoned' until the animal was dead...even then how would they know for sure without running a battery of tests on it? Something tells me even IF they performed such tests, they'd probably pass the damned thing on anyway. $99k per kilo makes it what, 10 times more valuable than cocaine? Not likely to pass up on that kind of profit even if the product is 'tainted'. You're better off just going the traditional route and sawing the damned thing off every month or two or however often you'd have to do so. Perhaps even twart the black market and offer the cut offs for sale at a reduced price, killing three birds with one stone. Supplying the people in the market while significantly reducing the chance of poachers taking the lives of the beasts, and generating a revenue source for these national parks and game reserves that as far as I know generally have limited funding and shoestring budgets. Everyone wins, save the poachers.
when they catch a poacher they should shoot him on the spot. watch how fast the poaching stops.