In 2013 this man, who looked supremely competent, lead about 10 of us into the bush carrying a rifle to try to find rhinos.  Our intent was not to shoot them. But we were walking on the ground where we could be attacked by wild animals. It was a bit scary.  We encountered no dangerous animals and did not find any rhinos.

As a consequence of the current attitude to nature, which says everything in nature is a resource for humans to do as they choose, rhinoceros are also in deep trouble in Africa. This is another  dreadful pity. As Peter Matthiessen said in his book Sand Rivers, “I am in pure breathless awe of this protean life form, six hundred thousand centuries on earth…the ugliest and most beautiful life imaginable.”  And is deeply appalling to think that some foul smelling evil little man shoots it to lie dying on the ground as its rough prong of compacted hair is hacked off for some puerile superstition. Sometimes life stinks with injustice. The stink of humans.

This was also part of that walk in Zimbabwe.

In 1981 already, Peter Gwin described the issue this way, in National Geographic, “Rivaling the price of gold on the black market, rhino horn is at the center of a bloody poaching battle.” In 2011, two years before we went to Africa, more than 1,000 rhinos were slaughtered in South Africa alone.  22 poachers were gunned down and more than 200 arrested.

Today, authorities are taking poaching seriously. As they should. It is a serious problem.  At the time, South Africa, which was  home to 73% of the world’s rhinos, had stockpiled a billion dollars of rhino horn.  From time to time, they say they want to sell the horns to get money for conservation efforts.

This was 2 rhinos in Kruger National Park South Africa

The problem is the rhino’s horn was thought by many people in Asia in particular to be a vitally useful in Asian medicine.  In 2011, prices according to Gwin ranged from $33 to $133 a gram. At $133 that is double the cost of gold! It can exceed the value of cocaine! In Vietnam for example, a pair of rhino horns could produce a net profit of $200,000!  It is no wonder that it is at the center of such a battle.

Poaching since the 1970s and 1980s has devastated rhino numbers.  In time, China succumbed to pressure to ban rhino horn from their traditional medicines. At the same time Yemen prohibited its use for ceremonial dagger handles. Things were looking good.

There was evidence a lot of rhino horns were going to Vietnam. Hugely increased profits just poured fuel on the problem. Another part of the problem is that the Vietnamese who also lust after rhino horns, had exploited the rhinos of Java to the point of extinction. So they had to find an alternate source. Now it seems like the rhino market is centered in Vietnam.

In Asia unsubstantiated rumors persist that rhino horns after being ground into powder cure a wide range of ailments including cancer. Of course the placebo effect of such powder is in turn juiced up by the wild prices. If it is so expensive it must be good!  Naturally rich people in particular facing death are willing to try anything. Who wouldn’t?

In a tour of Vietnam for his article in National Geographic, Gwin said he found rhino horn everywhere he looked. Even western trained doctors were using it. Their patients demanded it. Families would often pool money to purchase it. Rich people gave it to poor people. Mothers gave it to their children for measles. It is seen as a miracle drug.

It has been said of the rhino that they wake up surly and quickly go downhill from there.  Yet the black rhino has been around for 6 million years. 100 years ago there were hundreds of thousands of rhinos in Africa, now poaching has reduced them to about 18,000. We were privileged to see them. It might be that my granddaughters will never have a chance to see one.

I really think we need a new attitude to nature. Don’t you?