I totally agree with you Steve. Too bad the poachers are so ignorant. Seems to me that the rangers need to step up their patrols and maybe even employ more rangers so as to make sure that the preserve remains a preserve and not a killing ground.

What we need to do is embarrass the hell out of the idiots that think this stuff actually works with world wide headlines announcing how really pathetic it is to continue believing any of this and shame them all into stopping this practice.

This is the 21st century and the barbarians who still beileve in aphrodesiacs and those who would slaughter endangered species shoud all be publicly hanged. Heard of Vaigra, you impbeciles?

The poachers aren't ignorant at all. They're cashing in thousands of dollars on a hunk of glorified fingernail. They probably think we're morons for looking down on them.

This is sick. And very sad. But the problem stems from China and other South East Asian countries. There seems to be insatiable demand and they pay ridiculous sums of money. Just as most of the Ivory ended up in these countries now these morons are killing off Tigers, Leopards, Rhinos Orangutans abd anything they think will help their aging bodies. For what?

So we should hold these countries responsible as they create the demand; choke off the demand and the poachers will have no reason to disregard nature.

The problem is Red China---and the barbaric medieval medicinal practices. The Chinese will eat any and all animal parts -- that is why the world's wild animals are endangered.

Poachers of endangered species should be executed. Period.

Laws need to be passed in Asian countries banning the sale of rhino horn products. Those doing it should loose their businesses. Same way for ivory products from butchered elephants.

Those people that sell, own, poach, transport or have anything what so ever with this trade need to be exterminated.

Reminds me of all the humans that are butchered so Americans can have their drugs. It's called supply & demand. The people that demand animal parts or illegal drugs are just as guilty as the poachers and drug dealers/suppliers.

Wow how many of you believe in the death penalty for the killing of a human. How about the killing of an unborn baby? I agree this is sad but I have to wonder if you all would be that upset over a fellow human.

I hope the Chinese or other people for that fact,
never find out how valuable the tusks and feet are of Americas feral hogs. Also you
can eat the meat. I know people that are living well into old age that know the
secret. But remember it is only the American Wild Feral hogs.

I feel really angry about this helpless beast being killed for the sake of a few thousand bucks. If had an army I would hunt the poachers and kill them. Sounds bizzare but maybe if the poachers are targeted the incentive would diminish - Try your luck or perish. At least if the sentence was punishable by death that would stop it !

LynyrdSky

Are you for real? WTF does abortion have to do with this? You are a sad human being for bringing this into a discussion about the slaughter of endangered animals. Seriously you need to get a life! What you do with your pathetic body is your choice, what I do with mine is none of your business! These slaughtered animals did not have a choice. And I say: Kill all poachers on site no matter where they are and no questions asked. We need to protect what is left of these precious animals.

I say we genetically modify the rhino horns so that when they are removed, they immediately breakdown and leak potassium cyanide or something even more lethal.

Chris: Do rhino horns ever break in the wild? Because if they happened to do so after that genetic modification you suggested...

Maybe we could fly a drone over Assam instead of Pakistan for a change. Then alert the authorities to suspicious human activity in the park.

SteveMW, I totally agree with your last sentence. However how about this?

At least two of the rhinos were alive when their horns were hacked off...

Three suspected poachers have been killed and 14 arrested so far this year, the government says.

Let's cut off the poachers horns...umm...well something else?

In many countries where poaching endangered species is prevalent, it's legal to shoot poachers on site. The problem isn't necessarily lax poaching laws, it's logistics...not enough people going after the poachers in the large swaths of land they would have to protect. Planes or helicopters would be the most efficient way to search for poachers, but I doubt there are too many planes and helicopters at the disposal of Indian park rangers. Regarding the "ignoramuses" (ignorami?) who believe tusks and horns will cure every malady known to man, as well as improve their sex lives, keep in mind these beliefs have been ingrained for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, passed from generation to generation, and not easily dispelled. We could be talking millions of people, just as there are lots of Muslims who freak out over a friggin cartoon or movie clip poking fun at their supreme being, then terrorize and kill people to show what a peaceful religion Islam is. There are also many who believe that the West's slaughter of cattle and pigs is just as offensive as poaching, just as there are many Christians who still believe some pretty whacky stuff espoused in the bible. The eye of the beholder should not live in glass houses and throw stones, or something like that. ;)

SF accountant

Chris: Do rhino horns ever break in the wild? Because if they happened to do so after that genetic modification you suggested...

It would ensure that NO horns were ever collected and used, regardless of whether they came from a live rhino or one that died naturally.

I think SF's point was if the horn leaks a toxin after breaking to kill the poacher it would kill the rhino if a natural break occured.

usthefax-2437807

LynyrdSky

Are you for real? WTF does abortion have to do with this? You are a sad human being for bringing this into a discussion about the slaughter of endangered animals. Seriously you need to get a life! These slaughtered animals did not have a choice.

You sound very ignorant for the simple fact saying these animals didn't have a choice.......meaning what, aborted babies do have a choice?.... Idiot.

They're not "paid off", they just have no power in China.

The Chinese government doesn't care if its wealthy citizens buy rhino horns. And we can't make them care, either. The UN is powerless to impose proper HUMAN rights on China, much less animal rights. It's own citizens can't press the issue either, since it's not a democracy.

Also, social conscience has absolutely nothing against killing animals for personal benefit. Perhaps you show reverence to your hamburger before you eat it. Or maybe you're a vegetarian. I do not. You can argue that these animals are a special exception because they're in danger of extinction, but scarcity makes things more valuable, not less. "Animal rights" wasn't a thing until very recently, don't forget, and much of the world's people are still of the opinion that humans get to do whatever they want to animals because we're the dominant species and the animals can't stop us. I don't know how or if we can convince them otherwise, but we certainly won't do it with "where's your social conscience?!"

Agree, SF. Its just been the blink of an eye historically, since we wiped out tens of millions of Bison, in this country. And, until we extinguished the species there were passenger pigeons enough to darken the sky for half an hour, when a flock flew overhead. We caused floods in several areas of the U.S., because we killed so many beavers for their pelts, that tens of thousands of beaver dams deteriorated, and let the floods roll. All you folks looking down your noses at the rest of the world, how would you have talked Buffalo Bill, and his train full of "sportsmen" out of shooting buffalo from the train, and leaving thousands of corpses to rot, where they fell? We're a fearful, fearsome species. Americans are as bad as the rest! I wish you luck in trying to convincing the rest of humanity, to stop being the way we were until day before yesterday!

SF accountant...are you for real? Really? Your killing me with your stand on the sidelines and give the run down of it all to the rest of us while being cool with it. If you are not on the side of the animals then your not even on the side of the humans. We need them. They all have their place in the ecosystem...just one gone upsets the balance of the whole planet. Obviously...look were we are now...polar bears are in trouble...sharks are in trouble...global warming...ect., ect., Tasmanian tiger mean anything to you...we have destroyed more species than we even knew existed. May my God in the heavens live up to His Word when he promised to ruin those ruining the earth. Soon.

DDT22,

I'm with you, who are we to judge over who can live on this earth and who needs to be extinct. We are sad excuses for human beings. ManKIND? Yeah, right. We need to respect and protect.

.

Yes, I'm for real. I don't take the "holier than thou" path in condemning humans for serving their own interests and changing the environment for how it suits us (like every other animal in nature) and passing judgment on people for being more interested in their own livelihood than the lives of a rhino or elephant. But conservationists have a point too, in that we could easily damage our ecosystem beyond repair by giving people free license to exterminate whatever species is convenient/inconvenient for them.

So, yeah, I'm on the sidelines. I don't have an answer, so all I can do is bring a little bit of logic and sense to people who clearly need it. Sue me.

My sentiments exactly. They don't care if a species becomes extinct as long as they can make money from it. How sad.

If we can't prevent thefts in the great museums of the world - which are in buildings with guards, all kinds of electronic gear, guards on all night schedule, TV monitors and alarms on doors. No working windows..

How do you Protect a wild animal roaming over thousands of acres?

If, thats not enough - then think about the blatant disregard of thieves who already have started to think of Zoos the same way as crooks think of bank robbery.

They (the poachers) think nothing of breaking into Zoo's or animal parks to kill and mutilate animals for skins, paws organs and such. to them, its no different than stealing a family pet (dog, cats, Parrots) and selling them to dog fighting groups for breeding stock or as bait. Cats, rabbits are often sold to animal testing labs. Matter of fact, its better tha hunting wild animals - since Zoo raised animals and pets are human habituated... they will just stand there and get shot... will not even try to run away.

The point is when people are thinking whats in it for me> Then conservation is less important than feeding kids, getting a better home or sending them to school.

Its just a little facetious for Europeans, Americans , etc. to draw a line in the sand over the rape of African wild life. After all Bison (American buffalo) were nearly existent less than a lifetime ago. Most of the stock which is back in our national forests are imports from Canada. In the rush to resolve the American Indian problem and build homesteads - we burned down great forests of trees all over this country, kill almost all the Buffalo, Dammed nearly all the great rivers.

You have to forgive the Argentinians, Bolivians if they are less impressed when we take the high ground over saving the rain Forests, the Amazon basin ... etc.

Even when the facts are evident (like the Aswan dam in Egypt) that making changes will produce only temporary gains, its hard to tell a starving man that if he doesn't dam a river for electricity - which will be silted up in 20 or 30 years, rendering it useless as a power source and make the river un navigable, rob the downstream farms of silt which makes their farms productive. They just take the benefits of the short gain over and above the long term consequences.

Resign yourself to the inevitablity that one way or the other, unless we find a way to remove the demand, take the value out of poaching, exhausting natural resources, - in less than another generation, despite our best efforts... even the "Ark" projects will succumb to the poacher treats. China killed, ate or fished out all its exotic fauna generations ago. But with cash - they have found a new source for their use. Its just not that important to them if some African or Dutchman or South African kills the last rhino, Elephant, Lion, Tiger, Pandas - etc... matter of fact, killing the last one just makes their collection all the more valuable.

These are the facts.... the rewards of corruption are as inexhaustible as is the supply if endangered animals is finite. Like the American Wood pecker.... there is always the hope that someone will find one more surviving specimen .... so they can kill that one too.

So well said, Beoweolf.

Excellent points one and all, Beoweolf.. The only thing that will save what's left of all these animals on the Endangered Species List from extinction now is the extinction of the human race!

Not necessarily true, Seabreeze. There has been several successes protecting the animals on the endangered species list and even moving them off the list thanks to recovery. But of course it's harder when there are people with an interest in actually killing the animals rather than people who just don't care about its habitat or food supply. Even so, we can probably prevent most of those species from going completely extinct, although they'll be constantly in danger of it.

Also, I don't know about you, but if it comes down to humans or pandas, I'm not siding with the pandas.

Sorry SF, but I'm on the side of the animals.. It's we who are continuing to destroy this planet bit by bit, not just with the extinction of animals for profit but by the overuse and abuse of it's natural resources.. WE are the ones who claim intelligence, and yet, we think ONLY of ourselves and OUR comfort and to hell with the rest of the world.. We sit back in the comfort of our homes, our butts growing ever larger as we continue to consume and then throw away tons of food and trash every single day (this, despite the fact that there are MILLIONS of starving people all over the world) and saying 'tsk tsk' to the news when we hear about another species going the way of the Dodo Bird..

If I were God I would kick our collective big asses out into space and leave the planet to the animals or, more to the point, what's left of them!

Seabreezin',

so very well said! I'm with you!

Of course, the funny thing is that you make an argument for humans caring only about themselves while stating emphatically that you think humans are wrong and that animals have an inherent right to live and that the environment should not be destroyed for exploitation. So you're something of a proof that your grim theory is wrong...

Not that animals necessarily care about other species or spare the environment out of concern for it. Ethics is a function of human intelligence, after all.

But hey, whatever man, you take the animals' side all you want. Me, I like existing and I like civilization. Hopefully it never comes down to us or them, though.

Problems with that:

This is India we're talking about. They are currently a debtor nation, and keep spending more money on populist handouts every election. They do not have the money to spend on a sophisticated quick-response system to protect animals.

As an addendum to the first point, they also share a border with a very hostile neighbor, so without a doubt there are better uses for the defense money.

And finally, you would get a false positive every time one of the rhinos died of natural causes, and thus have an armed response hovering/trundling through the forest every time searching for a poacher that doesn't exist and scaring the daylights out of the other animals.

Not that your intentions are misguided, but there's a limit to how much force you can reasonably deploy to defend wild animals.

Won't happen in India; they even slaughter girls & women there and then have to go on dating websites trying to find a woman ignorant enough to marry them. Gunships won't happen either; they even rent a submarine from another country & are trying to build an aircraft carrier out of an old cruiser hull.

Private donations such as the rain forest fund, call it the last rhino fund! Mabey even broadcast it via web for a small fee!! Watch a poacher get blasted from the air. I'd pay to see that.

It absolutely astounds me that in an age of such advanced technology, people will still ignore scientific evidence that their "medicines" don't do anything. Then again, with all the "alternative medicine" treatments I see around San Fran, I have to wonder if the West is any better. Mysticism and nonsense, I say.

See, the problem with that plea right there is that the killing isn't senseless. Rhino horns are big money, and so the killing makes a great deal of sense. The hunting ban drives the price up higher, and no sensible government is going to guard an unpopulated forest more tightly than you'd protect a military base, which is the kind of security you'd need to make poaching too risky to try.

Also, it seems like you're trying to make a legal "breaking and entering" argument against poaching, which is silly because poaching is already illegal and because animals don't have legal title to their "home". So, yeah, I'm not really sure who you're trying to fool with that.

What a ridiculous thing to say!

Rhinos aren't cute at all.

Oh, you are so wrong.

You can. When you're sprayed with sodium hydroxide and your skin comes off like liquid gel, the person standing next to you gets the point quickly.

We're too soft on these droids.

While I agree with your intent it would not go well for the rhino...since how will the rhino defend themselves against animal predators? Maybe we should sedate the ones buying the ivory and cut off their horns. That sounds much more effective. They have the bowl but no cigar.

DDT is right in that it still harms the animal to take away their tusks/horns, although probably not as much as poaching... so I think the problem isn't that this is a bad idea, but rather that the people pressing for conservation in the first place would probably be opposed to it. Thus you'd have very little support for this plan among people who care enough to generate political pressure.

Although as an interesting side note, elephants in Africa are seeing growing populations born without tusks, despite the advantages of tusks in the wild. We've reached the point where poaching is a greater selector for evolution than the natural environment.

And what about all the animals that would die along with us? Since you apparently feel nothing for the billions of us who aren't poaching or buying poached goods, any thought for their pets or the animals that would be killed by simple proximity?

I disagree, poachers do it to survive usually, so hard labor sentences would be more appropriate, maybe labor to help the animals.

But the end users scalps I'm for. I believe in magic too.

Shiboof,

So do I. Somebody that does not have ANY respect for ANY living being does not deserve my respect.

You have a point, but it's not like these poachers are just working-class hunters trying to make a living. They know what they're doing is illegal, and that there are armed rangers trying to prevent it. Whether or not they can make a moral argument that poaching isn't wrong, it's wrong in the eyes of the law, and they deliberately take precautions to deal with this. Poachers are criminals, and they know it.

Hello SF accountant. I'm not in disagreement with you. I was mainly railing against the fact that there seems to be a ready outrage for atrocities like the rhino killings, but silence for the ongoing killing for food. It seems people are selective in their outrage and for some strange reason they pick a far off event in a far off place where they will never be able to have an impact instead of right at home where they could actually do something. If my post implied otherwise, I apologize. I chalk it up to it being my first ever post on this site and perhaps any news site and being nearly 3 in the morning. :)

The difference is animals slaughtered for food are eaten. These animals are being left to rot. I agree with you on the hypocrisy about outrage over rhino killings in Asia. How many animals in North America are poached for body parts? Just look at the gall bladder trade of black bears.

While I agree with your opinion on poaching what you say about hunting is absolutely wrong. Only someone who has no real perspective on wildlife would make such an ignorant statement. Humans are part of the earth also. Like all animals our needs must be met for survival. To hunt and kill for food is not the same as killing for greed. My opinion is that all poachers should be shot on sight and the carcasses left for scavengers.

While I'm opposed to poaching (not hunting, though), you give absolutely no reasoning for your statement, Joan. You simply say "everyone should be against poaching" and then call those people good, with the implication that we should just support it so that you don't think we're bad. You don't explain why killing rhinos for their horn is any worse than killing a cow for its meat.

Joan Iverson, where did I say poaching is not wrong?

Walker: Good point, I agree one hundred percent. Our military sometimes bomb innocent women and children, (by mistake) but our politicians are weak kneed when it comes to executing convicted Murderers here in our own country.