... because in two or three years there will be none left.
There has always been poaching and rhinos have always been on the endangered species lists but in recent year things have gotten out of hand. 83 rhinos were killed in 2008. In 2009 - 122. In 2010 333 rhinos were slaughtered. This year alone we've had 223 rhinos killed, and will probably end up over 400. The shocking thing is that these numbers are for South Africa alone. Similar situations are happening all across Africa. SA has the best infrastructure to deal with this, but a country like Mozambique (still recovering from a 20 year civil war) would not be able to stop it at all.
Despite the fact that the government, the relevant state departments, private citizens, the police, conservation groups, the media (both liberal and conservative legs) and even the army have teamed up against it there has been no decrease. Unless something it is foreseeable that rhinos in the wild will die out before the end of the decade.
Here are some of the poachers tactics:
Poachers fly in with helicopters into National Parks or private reserves, shoot the rhinos from the air then have their ground teams saw off the horns, which can sell for a lot over seas. The carcasses are left to rot. Another one has people going into national parks seemingly as families and groups of 'business associates'; when they find a rhino they kill it and harvest the horn. Technically they can drug it and saw of the horn, but they see it as safer to kill. Other tactics include joining forces with legitimate hunters who then legally procure rhinos in order to slaughter them. Thieves are even stealing from museums in South Africa as well as Europe. They are well organized and come from every walk of South African (and international) life.
I'm getting off my soap box now, but I just wanted you all to know...
National Geographic on this.
http://www.savetherhino.org/
[color="Red"]Please note: [/color]the following site has the best, most direct information, but it has incredibly detailed, gruesome pictures plastered all over it. Don't click this link if you're sensitive to actual blood and gore. http://www.stoprhinopoaching.com/