A white rhino in Limpopo. Wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe have begun
dehorning the country's 700 adult rhinos to curb rampant poaching. AFP
PHOTO
By AFP
HARARE
Wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe
have begun dehorning the country's 700 adult rhinos to curb rampant
poaching, a conservation group said Tuesday.
"Our target is to
dehorn every single adult rhino and to ear-notch the young ones for
record-keeping," Lisa Marabini, director for the Aware Trust Zimbabwe
(ATZ) conservation group, told AFP.
"Poaching is a very serious
problem in this country. This (dehorning) will act as a dissuasive
measure and reduce the potential reward for poachers."
ATZ, which
includes veterinarians and conservationists, is working with the
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority on the dehorning
project.
The authority was not immediately available to comment.
ATZ declined to give exact numbers of how many rhinos had been dehorned for security reasons.
Rhinos
are among the most poached animals in Zimbabwe and their population has
been dwindling over years due to illegal hunting, prompting authorities
to keep them in protected areas.
But Marabini said at least 50 rhinos were killed by poachers in Zimbabwe's game reserves last year.
Rhino
horns are worth thousands of dollars due to demand in East Asia for
their supposed medicinal qualities, fuelling a boom in poaching and
trafficking in Zimbabwe and neighbouring South Africa.
The animals
are targeted by armed gangs due to the belief in Vietnam and China that
ground-up horn cures diseases, including cancer.
Also believed to be an aphrodisiac, the horn is composed mainly of keratin, the same component as in human nails.
AFP
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