South Africa Announces Decline in Rhino & Elephant Poaching

​worldanimalnews.com/great-news-south-africa-announces-decline-in-number-of-rhinos-lost-to-poaching-for-2019/

It's time for some positive news in the animal kingdom today as South Africa announced a decline in the amount of rhinos and elephants poached in 2019. Statistics show that 769 rhinos were killed in 2018 but this decreased to 594 in 2019 and elephants dropped from 71 to 31 in 2019 as well. This is in part thanks to the cooperation of rhino horn consumer countries like Malaysia & Vietnam and the tireless efforts of anti-poaching rangers and activism. 

Every single variety of elephant and rhino on our planet right now is in danger of extinction. Outside of habitat loss due to continued human development, these animals are the targets of illegal poaching for their horns which hold significant value on the black market as well as through legal sale for novelty products designed out of the ivory. Despite the fact that these animals are facing uncertainty in their future, poaching continues to plague these species' because of their horns. Poachers will literally go to any length to get their hands on these horns in hopes of making money and often risk their lives for the hunt as anti-poaching rangers will use any force necessary to protect these endangered animals.

Rhino populations have dropped to roughly 35,000 remaining in the and elephants sit somewhere around 415, 000. Both animals have faced persistent problems in the wild which is why the ivory market needs to be shut down in order to better protect these animals. Illegal poaching will always continue but when we have countries that are still welcoming these horns, it continues to promote the slaughter of these endangered animals. 

As I say with trophy hunting, there is no necessity in ivory derived products. They are nothing more than novelty products that are putting entire species at risk of going extinct. Why are these countries continuing to allow imports of ivory when they are aware of the damage it is doing to the rhino and elephant populations? It's absolutely mind-boggling that there is still a legal market for this! This is no different than trophy hunting to me. We continue to allow wealthy people to participate in hunts of endangered animals and in the same breath cry out that these animals are dropping off the face of the earth. It's hypocrisy at its finest.

As I've said before, we need to put an end to things that we know are directly contributing to the extinction of animals. It's time to ban trophy hunting and ban ivory imports across the board. If we tackle these legal elephant and rhino slaughters, we can then focus wholly on illegal poaching. Although these numbers indicate a job well done by anti-poaching rangers in South Africa, it's also a reminder that there are still hundreds of rhinos being slaughtered. Time is of the essence when we discuss extinction, there is no going back.

A big thank you to everyone out there putting their lives in danger to protect these species. Your hard work is paying off. 

​HAPPY VEG