An informative and disturbing documentary on the war on South African rhinos and economic markets, mythologies, crime syndicates, government corruption, high-tech massacre technologies, and vicious mercenaries driving the immanent extinction of this magnificent species. The urgency of the crisis is vividly dramatized, as are the violent urges deep in the human condition, and the armed struggle taking place right now in Africa and elsewhere in the struggle to save animals from extinction and as a vital part of the politics of nature.
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Al Jazeera Correspondent
“It’s a creature from a bygone age, older than mankind itself. Greed and corruption, myth and superstition, had brought the rhino to the brink of extinction.
For millenia its best protection, the rhino’s horn is now its worst enemy. If the killing doesn’t stop than the last rhino in the wild could disappear in just a few years.
These days rhino poachers come by a helicopter armed with powerful tranquilizers and a chainsaw. The cruelty of the attack is just breathtaking. A philosopher once said that we can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals. If so what kind of men are doing this?
In 2010 more than 300 rhinos were killed for their horns. With acts of such heartless cruelty taking place every day now, that annual total will almost double in 2012. It amounts to the wholesale slaughter of one of this continent’s most praised natural assets, by means both crude and sophisticated.”
Sharing~ Steve, are you on Twitter? much more exposure for information, https://twitter.com/dominiquejean54
Nope, never made that transition, I do have twitter share buttons on my posts though; do you really think it is worthwhile? I have left FB for good and am leary of entering into another social media terrain, although I know Twitter is not the human viper pit and surveillance system FB is.
Sorry to hear that Steve,i was waiting for your come back on FB but i dont think you should fear Twitter,you can just send your infos out there,us followers can rt at will and spread the message,please consider it 🙂
Thank you Chris ….
It’s worth opening a twitter even if you only leave it up as a placeholder account.
While I wouldn’t use facebook for a good number of reasons I might still consider opening a project “page” there and then locking it down, never to log in again. Same goes for G+ (Though it’s ironic that both of those facilities have refused to allow my browser to access their pages for several months now. I assume that my configuration is “too” secure for their monetary measures to exploit)
All the same, any clickthru you can grab is better than no click at all. Furthermore, social networker pages acquire extra juice for your project on search engines. Additionally, leave a link to your twitter address on the bottom of your documents so mobile phone users can “link in” with just one tap of their touch screen (Mobile internet use is exponential, exploit the trend). Finally, other large projects may link in with you and provide wider coverage.
thanks for this reply 😉
I know; the poaching is very disturbing. I am disgusted by this.
Patricia
Email him and tell him what a savage he is: harry@harrysafaris.co.za
http://tinyurl.com/live-rhino-hunt
Some people are going to disagree with me, but we need to capture what is left of all the wildlife, the Rhino’s, Elephants, Tiger’s, Lions, Orangutangs in Borneo, ect to a heavily armed Sanctuary situated in a Common area that is not so obscure to allow volunteers to easily commit to help, possibly even in the U.S. or the U.K., away from a impoverished area that will only succumb to $$$ offered them to kill, as well as the “Big White Hunter’s that can be out of societies grasps and commit as much havoc and murder with no accountability..like the Trump family, how can we fight that kind of $$$$$, in that environment???
Sorry Dominique: you can’t perhaps imagine how huge Africa is….! All the Sanctuaries and Reserves have followed the principle you mentioned, but the problem is: wildlife needs to stay wild. We know one thing for sure: Nature is able to find the right balance. Man is NOT.
Please have a look at the same problem, for cheetahs: http://www.cheetah.org and you will understand why some models work: they help the local population in maintaining its livelihood. You can’t save the rhinos or elephants or whatever animal if you do not think first of the population.
I understand your conservation perspective and Thank you for your work and all that you do for the Cheetah’s, but to me the problem is exactly that the populations are a direct reflection of the urgency of the each individual Cheetah, Rhino ( less than 3,000 Rhino’s?,that is disgusting, I have talked 1st hand with friends that work directly with many individual Rhino’s that were killed ) The Elephant’s are a completely different issue in S. Africa, WWF is “Enhancing the capacity of local wildlife authorities to conserve and manage elephants”, that sounds to me like what the Fish& Wildlife/Game does here in the US, “conserve and manage” populations, so as to perpetuate the need for hunting and culling. Each of these animals are sentient individuals, not to be counted as numbers. The balance of nature has been destroyed, esp. in the last 100 years at an insane rate, so I don’t see the option at this point to leave them in the wild, I feel we have a responsibility, as their guardians to use any and all means necessary to protect each individual of losing their life and a need to protect them in a safe place until the wild is safe for them from the most psychotic predator, man!
http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/12/12/its-official-vietnams-javan-rhino-extinct-and-other-species-will-likely-follow?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Astute observation of the F&G Dominique.
However, take your thoughts to the next level. If they can operate a “population management” racket in Africa then anyone attempting to protect the rhino will become regarded as a terrorist while whatever “charity” manages the population will then be free to open up a niche ivory market and revenue stream protected by the police and government.
You knew that many “charities” such as the one you mentioned were largely run by corporate CEO’s, right?
The plan of the government-corporate-elitists (that includes many rhino/elephant charities) is to stop sale of untaxed ivory, not to save the rhino. Infact, scarcity of the ivory bearing populations only increases the ivory value so it’s within corporate interests to deliberately maintain low population levels of rhino and elephant.
Also, many of the “charities” that control land in the third world take a cut to provision use of that land for the smuggling of resources, military equipment and peoples. The whole thing is an industry disguised as “feel good” charity.
Like any other capitalist corporation, a charity (or pharmaceutical corporation) requires the suffering it is supposed to alleviate to continue unabated in order to solicit continuous funds.
EL
Quite the ethical conundrum. Often we hear that nonhumans must be saved by hunting them but this is different… “Saving them” by farming them to “harvest” body parts. It’s just become an insane world that hinges on insane “solutions”.
How lucky for the rhinos that they are such a “user-friendly” species. Oh gawd! 😦
EL, agree, thought I was being clear that I was being sarcastic about the “charities” and F&G here in the US, referring specifically in this conversation of the information on the above link, http://www.cheetah.org I Don’t agree with any Wildlife management that sacrifices even one life, no need for it ever, in a civilized society. I have gone more than a step further in my rationalization of these wildlife crisis issues to inherently understand that it has gone way beyond “managing Wildlife” , we have to RESCUE what is left and protect them by any means necessary and those means are necessary. We are at an extreme disadvantage with the forces that want to kill and destroy anything and everything, and at this point they have all the political power, so I don’t believe in re-releasing back into the wild until things have changed dramatically. I don’t care where or how, or who wants credit for what just get it done, conservation ideals are too slow of a process, too many animals and species are lost. Enclosures are necessary at this point with armed guards.