Rhino killed and dehorned while giving birth

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This happened a couple of days ago. http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsi ... ?id=916416 I was just absolutely horrified and at a loss for words.

Humanity everybody!

OMG poor rhino

All to be used in proven useless potions by damned fools in China and Vietnam.



Rhinoceros horns, unlike those of other horned mammals (which have a bony core), only consist of keratin. Rhinoceros horns are used in traditional Asian medicine, and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. Esmond Bradley Martin has reported on the trade for dagger handles in Yemen.One repeated misconception is that rhinoceros horn in powdered form is used as an aphrodisiac in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as Cornu Rhinoceri Asiatici (犀角, xījiǎo, "rhinoceros horn"). It is, in fact, prescribed for fevers and convulsions. Neither have been proven by evidence-based medicine. Discussions with TCM practitioners to reduce its use have met with mixed results since some TCM doctors see rhinoceros horn as a life-saving medicine of better quality than substitutes. China has signed the CITES treaty however, and removed rhinoceros horn from the Chinese medicine pharmacopeia, administered by the Ministry of Health, in 1993. In 2011 in the United Kingdom, the Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine issued a formal statement condemning the use of rhinoceros horn. A growing number of TCM educators have also spoken out against the practice. To prevent poaching, in certain areas, rhinos have been tranquilized and their horns removed. Armed park rangers, particularly in South Africa, are also working on the front lines to combat poaching, sometimes killing poachers who are caught in the act. A recent spike in rhino killings has made conservationists concerned about the future of rhino species. During 2011, 448 rhino were killed for their horn in South Africa alone. The horn is incredibly valuable: an average sized horn can bring in much as a quarter of a million dollars in Vietnam and many rhino range States have stockpiles of rhino horn. Still, poaching is hitting record levels due to demands from China and Vietnam.

The stupidity of some people.

If you want to make money off of rhino horns, you farm rhinos! Seriously, the freaking horn grows back, you can harvest them without causing the rhino distress and you get an unlimited supply of horns! There is a humane way to get this product out there (I agree the product is useless but try convincing a billion undereducated people that). Killing an endangered animal for something that grows back is so backwards, I'm surprised these people know how to reproduce.

Stupid f'n humans.

Notice how the most ridiculous things on Earth are done in the name of "improving sex"...

Gad... it's amazing humans continue to survive with such levels of stupidity...

*sigh* Pass the Soylent Green, please... *crunch*crunch*

Humans disgust me sometimes

That's been considered, but there aren't enough rhinos left for that to work. And that might also encourage people to keep using rhino horn. Ever since that idiot Vietnamese politican claimed that rhino horn had cured his cancer, the demand for rhino horn has like skyrocketed. As of December 3rd, the death toll for rhino poaching has been 350. Rhinos also depends on their horns a lot, like to dig and mix the water for their mud baths, and for protection. I think it's a bit ironic that rhinos have no natural predators of their own, but they're sought after for their horns by the most dangerous predator, humans.

This is why I gathered the courage and was bold enough to write to HRH the Duke of Cambridge. Wildlife means a lot to him, he's a patron of the Tusk Trust, and he's very against poaching. He volunteered at Lewa for some time during his gap year, and helped raise some of the rhinos there. One rhino he helped raise was killed by poachers in April. I'm hoping he'll write a letter for the Save the Rhinos Letter Writing Campaign.

I can't bear to watch this. Just reading the heading sparked a twinge of depression. Hell is more than a fiction, it's right here on earth.