Zimbabwe’s Black Rhino: Good News

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In an intense international rescue and anti-poaching operation, 46 black rhino have been moved to safer areas – and eight poachers have been killed – in Zimbabwe.

Thanks to coverage by international media, public support, and international pressure from CITES, the International Rhino Foundation’s (IRF) Crisis Zimbabwe awareness campaign has reportedly raised more than $120,000 in emergency funds to rescue 46 black rhino from vulnerable areas in Zimbabwe. And since May, eight poachers have been killed during armed confrontations with police, compared to seven known rhino poaching losses in the Lowveld.

Demand for rhino horn is driving the slaughter

This development marks a hard-earned victory for conservationists, who have been fighting an uphill battle against the unprecedented increased demand for the rhino’s horn, driven by the recent affluence boom in China.

In the past year, rhino poaching in Zimbabwe doubled, fueled by China’s insatiable appetite for pricey, prestigious “ancient remedies” derived from the rhino’s horn. This widespread rhino slaughter has been compounded by the lack of law enforcement in Zimbabwe – with mysterious disappearing dockets, dismissed cases, and killers being set free or easily making nominal bail. It was even revealed recently that rhinos were being poached to fill “orders” placed by Chinese nationals for rhino horn.

Consequences for Zimbabwe

According to Wildlife Extra, Zimbabwe’s failure to clamp down on poaching has not gone unnoticed.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), to which Zimbabwe is a signatory, will discuss censuring Zimbabwe at its 2010 Conference of the Parties because of the country’s inadequate actions to halt poaching.

Honoring a hero

A long-time fighter in this battle to save Zimbabwe’s black rhino has been selected by the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund as a Disney Conservation Hero: Jackson Kamwi, Senior Rhino Monitor for the Lowveld Rhino Trust – who has helped capture and relocate nearly 1,000 rhino over the past two decades.

The war is not over yet, but rhino conservationists are making progress at last.

Here’s to hero Jackson Kamwi, the International Rhino Foundation’s Crisis Zimbabwe campaign, and its network of supporters!

Image source: http://www.flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0