An
Open Letter to representatives and citizens of Vietnam and
China
On Saturday
the 6th of October, a group of us were walking the Olifants Trail in
the Kruger National Park, South Africa. At about 07h15, we came across an adult
white rhino cow, killed and dehorned.
Being
exposed to the subject of rhino poaching via the media, is upsetting,
disturbing and angering. Seeing two tons of dead rhino first hand, is soul
numbing, followed by uncontrollable rage and abject impotence . Blaming,
catching or killing poachers is pointless - there are simply thousands of
desperate hungry wannabe poachers waiting to replace them. Throw in corrupt
officials from SANparks employees, right through to the police and customs
departments, and an unsolvable problem has arisen. The horns are simply too
valuable. The problem cannot be solved by force, policing or security
measures.
Without
you, the end user, this situation would not have arisen. You are the problem.
Believing in the medicinal and aphrodisiac properties of a lump of compressed
hair, is historically and genetically imprinted in your psyche – education over
a period of generations might address this, but before then, you would have
been the cause of the demise of the species.
Hopefully
the authorities will allow captive breeding and harvesting of horns. Sure, it’s
kind of infra dig, but at least poaching will be less attractive, ignorant
Vietnamese and Chinese consumers will have a lump of useless hair, and the
Rhino might stand a chance of survival. This is a desperate call for you to
educate your people – before it’s too late.
Sure, it’s
a pointless exercise, but I got it off my chest.
Sieg de Beer
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