#poachers in South Africa

[filosofablogger]

Good People Doing Good Things – For Mother Earth

Good People Doing Good Things – For Mother Earth

Last night, I was literally glued to my laptop screen for over three hours watching a ping-pong match in Georgia between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker.  By the time the race was finally called (the better candidate did win, in case any don’t know yet) at around 10:30, I was exhausted and my eyes felt like sandpaper, for I didn’t even blink much!  So, long story short, today’s ‘good people’…

[lost-lycaon]

Taken on the road from Tzaneen Country Lodge toward Phalaborwa. Considering that poachers are armed with AKs and rocket propelled grenades (to kill elephants), they absolutely mean it.

[djlechat]

[blogmillymills]

In safari in South Africa. Newmarket Holidays 5.

[reasonsforhope]

The Kenya Wildlife Service celebrated the successful transfer of 21 eastern black rhinos to establish a new viable breeding population for the species that was on the brink of extinction decades ago.

In an 18-day exercise executed by highly trained capture and veterinary experts, the Loisaba Conservancy received the 21 rhinos from three different locations, becoming the 17th sanctuary in Kenya where the mammoth animals can roam and intermingle.

“It’s incredibly exciting to be part of the resettlement of rhinos to a landscape where they’ve been absent for 50 years,” said Tom Silvester, CEO of Loisaba Conservancy.

Kenya had 20,000 black rhinos in the 1970s before poachers decimated them for their horns. By the time the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) was established in 1989, rhino numbers had declined to below 400.

Since then, Kenya’s eastern black rhinos have made a remarkable comeback and today there are an estimated 1,004 individuals.

Kenya is a stronghold of the eastern sub species of black rhino, hosting approximately 80 percent of the entire world’s surviving population.

“Surpassing the milestone of 1,000 rhinos within four decades is a significant accomplishment,” said Munira Bashir, Director of The Nature Conservancy in Kenya.

The reintroduction this month of these 21 animals this month is a great milestone in Kenya’s rhino recovery action plan, and was made possible by support from The Nature Conservancy, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, other partners—and the three reserves from where the 21 rhinos originated, Nairobi National Park, Ol Pejeta Conservancy and Lewa Conservancy.

“In the recent past, one of the main causes of mortality of rhinos has been territorial fights due to limited space in sanctuaries which has also led to suppressed growth rates due,” explained Dr. Erustus Kanga, the Director General of Kenya Wildlife Service. “I am elated to be associated with this momentous effort to secure more space for this cornerstone species.”

Meanwhile, southern white rhinos continue to thrive in Kenya, having increased from 50 individuals that were imported from South Africa in the eighties and nineties to reach the current population of 971 individuals.

Kenya is also playing a critical role in efforts to save the northern white rhino from extinction, as it is host to the only remaining two females of the species left in the world. The international BioRescue project has developed thirty embryos awaiting implantation into surrogate females within the closely-related subspecies of southern white rhino.

“The return of black rhinos to Loisaba, 50 years after the last known individual here was killed by poachers in the 1970s, is a demonstration of how impactful partnerships between governments and conservation NGOs can be for restoring, managing, and protecting our natural world,” said Dr. Max Graham, CEO and Founder of Space for Giants, one of the project partners.

“And, of course, the return of black rhinos here gives all of us one of the most precious commodities of all: hope.”

-via Good News Network, February 25, 2024

[animalsalvationassociation]

Passing the Torch . . .

[ DO NOT REPOST, ALL ART & CONCEPTS WERE MADE BY ME ]

“Wonderful news tonight as the organization known only as the Animal Salvation Association, a group of individuals set to bring peace to the world through their environmental and political efforts, finally passes on the torch to a new generation of Ocean Explorers.”

“It has been several years since the accident occurred taking the life of Professor and Captain, Samara Jade Kelp, the leader of the infamous Octonauts crew. A team known as the ‘Saviors of the Ocean’. Today we see history as Captain Samara’s legacy is finally laid to rest and a new captain takes the helm of this mighty crew.”

“Her husband, Professor Marin Kelp and head of the A.S.A. says this . . .”

“Mara would’ve wanted this I’m sure, she always had a heart of gold! A good reason why I married her – ahem. In any case, I congratulate Captain Barnacles on his new role, I think she would’ve felt honored that he was carrying on her memory! He’s a strong one he is and the men and women he’s called to his crew will no doubt be just the same. That being said, we at the A.S.A. made sure to bring in someone we trust! After all most of planet is covered in water, might as well have someone taking care of it!”

“In other news, new waves of gang violence have been picking up along the east coast. As with many others gathering around the lower parts of Africa and South America, just around the center of the Amazonian River. Officials say that they’ve never seen activity quite like this before. Many key witnesses around each of the affected areas have claimed the existence and affects of poachers. But if there’s anything to go off of there seems to always be some valiant soul ready and willing to stop them.”

“Speaking of, Friday night a press conference is set to be held with world leaders over this issue, and the very organization we just covered is invited to join in. That’s right, the A.S.A. has finally caught their attention and at the end of the week there are rumors of an alliance being made between the UN and the A.S.A. So be sure to tune in Friday, Eastern Time, to see it live. Now back to the weather . . . ”

Illustration Time: 10hrs 12min

[ This is a Octonauts AU, in no way is this canon to the OG storyline. ]

(GUYS I GOT A JOB!!! ALSO I JUST GOT HERE AND THE BOOP-MAGEDDON IS ALREADY OVER???? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! WHY CRUEL WORLD!!!!)

Ya’ll BTW are you guys kidding me??? 60+ followers???? That’s INSANE ty all sm!!! You have no idea how happy that makes me!!!

[flames-unicorns-and-sentryguns]

Blu Sniper headcannons

the last of the first Blu stand alone headcannons. There's going to be more team centric and dynamic headcannons afterwards.

The middle of five kids, grew up in South Africa instead of Australia.( Yes I'm going for that one joke In mean girls) Spent a lot of time outside to get space for himself. Likes climbing rooftops and other high places because it's quiet and god damn he can be left alone.

He doesn't hate his siblings or his family, he just needs to get Away. Likes animals and looking at landscapes. Clouds are some of his favorites especially.

In another life he would have loved photography. Or painting.

Initially took up sniping to help deal with poachers. If he's gotta take someone out someone out. If it's for a good cause he doesn't mind killing a few guys. ( After he came back to South Africa)

His family might not know about the killing people bit.

His family moved around a lot growing up and spent time in Australia for a couple of years. Picked up the accent and the slang. Is actually really good at mimicking a fair deal of accents himself. I like to think he chooses to do the Australian one in game because Red Sniper is Australian.

Likes to try and match accents with spy in a sort of who can do accents better bit between them. Likes to gossip with spy about the things he's seen from up above.

Is good at recognizing people by their footsteps and other ..kinda background noises they do due to the whole big family thing.

Doesn't really dislike anyone but doesn't really have a favorite either. Will engage in friendly conversations.

Finds himself holed up with the medic once In a while especially when they go off base.

Medic because he needs to get Away/ wants a break and Sniper because he just wants to Go somewhere and look around. See something living.

They both fell in love with a stray cat on one trip to town and adopted it together.

[endlingmusings]

[ Several captive Southern white rhinoceroses. ]

“John Hume, the owner of the world’s largest private rhino herd, is auctioning off his rhino farm, the starting bid being US$10 million. The question is, what are Hume’s rhinos really worth?

In recent weeks there have been quite a few emotional appeals from John Hume and his supporters to ‘see the value’ in what is being offered. I get that many people believe that this is John Hume’s life’s work, but the US$150 million the one-time billionaire reportedly spent on this enterprise is, in business terms, the project’s sunk cost. It is a business risk he chose to take, as he farmed rhinos with a view to selling the horn.

When he started, over a decade ago, the international sale of rhino horn was already banned and the domestic trade was banned in South Africa for a number of years until John Hume and Johan Kruger launched legal action, saying it is their constitutional right to sell rhino horn. Izak du Toit, the lawyer who represented the rhino owners to overturn the domestic trade ban, and who appears to be Hume’s legal representative in the current auction, said at the time, [If the domestic trade ban was overturned] “We would sell [rhino horn] to the poachers to prevent them from killing rhinos,”.

With all the effort to overturn rhino horn trade sanctions, both domestically and international, there was always an inherent risk in Hume’s strategy that the trade ban would remain, and he accepted this risk as legalising the trade in rhino horn was the only way to recuperate his investment. Hume has said that his 10-tonne of stockpile of rhino horns is negotiable as part of the current auction, adding that it is worth more than US$500 million on the black market. A curious message to give out.

The fact that there is still a ban on the international trade of rhino horn doesn’t change the lack of trying by Hume and other South African private rhino owners. Over the years they put forward models for a ‘regulated’, international legal trade in rhino horn. The business plans have loopholes big enough for a Mack truck to drive through and, in all this time, they have never invested in a consumer analysis. The pro-trade supporters have previously stated that, “What they [rhino horns] are used for is hardly relevant. The fact is that people are willing to pay.”. Even now, after more than a decade of pushing to legalise the international trade, the response to the FAQ page question, “Does anyone know what the demand for rhino horn is?” is, “There is no reliable data on the size of the market. The best way to determine the characteristics of a market is to engage in legal trade.”. Mmm, quite a risky approach if your goal is to save rhinos from poaching.

At least now they acknowledge that an international trade won’t stop rhino poaching, the response to the FAQ page question, “Doesn’t the market value ‘wild’ horn more than harvested?” is, “Possibly, yes. If there is a preference for ‘wild’ or whole horn, this will be reflected in the price buyers are willing to pay.”. A far cry from their earlier, evidence free, assertions that the supply from the privately owned rhinos in South Africa could satisfy demand in Viet Nam and China and that consumers would be willing to substitute farmed horn for horn from wild rhinos.

Legalising the trade in ivory for two massive one-off sales did not stop elephant poaching, it made it worse. There is every reason to believe the same would happen with rhino horn – as soon as you can legalise advertise you can create new demand; something else they have never been willing to factor into their pro-trade push. Further, those who can afford genuine rhino horn will pay for a ‘wild’ product. Consumers have been known to ask for the tail/ears of the rhino to be presented with the horn to show it was killed in the process and the horn didn’t come from a stockpile.

This rhino sale mess is a perfect demonstration of the misguided obsession with the commercialisation of wild species. John Hume and the other private rhino owners managed to overturn the ban on domestic trade in South Africa, but that did not create a market for a product nobody needs. Hume’s rhino horn auction in 2017 was a flop, as was his later attempt to launch a cryptocurrency backed by rhino horn.

John Hume’s 2,000 rhinos and his reported 10 tonne stockpile of rhino horn have zero commercial value as long as the international trade remains closed. Reinstating the South African domestic trade in rhino horn was seen a precursor to overturning the international trade ban, providing hope for the pro-trade rhino owners. The result was they were happy to devalue rhino horn from a poaching perspective but they have never wanted to devalue horn from a consumer perspective, as they didn’t want to undermine the potential for future profits.”

- Excerpt from “What Are John Hume’s Rhinos Really Worth?” by Lynn Johnson.

[planetofsnarfs]

Warning Horn

In an effort to make them useless to poachers, researchers are implanting radioactive isotopes into the horns of rhinos in South Africa.

The unusual material would "render the horn useless... essentially poisonous for human consumption," James Larkin, professor and dean of science at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, told Agence France-Presse.

The isotopes would also be "strong enough to set off detectors that are installed globally," Larkin added, referring to hardware that was originally installed to "prevent nuclear terrorism."

And in case you're wondering, the "two tiny little radioactive chips in the horn" pose no risks to the animals' health or the local environment, making it an elegant solution to a very real problem.

Ex Tincture

Rhino horns are extremely in demand for their use in traditional medicine, particularly in Asia, despite there being no scientific evidence to support their supposed therapeutic effects. They can be worth more in weight than gold or cocaine.

According to AFP, 499 rhinos were known to have been killed in 2023, representing an 11 percent increase over 2022. While three species of rhinos remain critically endangered, white rhinos in Africa have fortunately made a remarkable recovery after once thought to be extinct, largely thanks to conservation efforts. According to the report, there are about 15,000 rhinos in South Africa.

Radioactive Rhino

Previous efforts, including poisoning or painting the horns, have failed so far. Conservationists have even resorted to dehorning rhinos intentionally since the 1980s to keep them safe from poachers.

"We get a lot of criticism for cutting with a chainsaw," University of Neuchâtel PhD candidate and black rhino conservation specialist Vanessa Duthé told Discover last year, "but it's the best way, the fastest way [to dehorn]."

However, Larkin is optimistic about his latest attempt. He and his colleagues are planning to implant radioactive isotopes in twenty rhinos.

"Maybe this is the thing that will stop poaching," he told AFP. "This is the best idea I've ever heard."

[evansbby]

Choose! Wildlife biologist and conservationist Ari who lives on and helps manage a game reserve in South Africa (speaks swahili fluently, reckless, has been in multiple fire fights with poachers) or eccentric sex guru Ari who lives on a tropical island and has a harem (can make you squirt with his hands tied behind his back, but believes in free love and has never had a monogamous relationship)

The Wildlife biologist Ari bc he seems like a cutie. The sex guru Ari would be fucking 28288228 girls at the same time as me and I cannot stand that. Plus I love wildlife and animals so I’d have fun in that environment with my man 😏😏

[lost-lycaon]

Mass poisoning of African Painted Dogs in the Waterberg

Below is the press article regarding the attack on the free roaming Waterberg Wild Dog pack, where the property owner poisoned a carcass killed by the pack, and when the pack returned, six of them ate the poisoned meat, and died in agony.

The property is Mountain View Bush Lodge, address Grootfontein 589 LQ, Waterberg. Combination game farm and tourist lodge. The owner promptly took down the website as this was made public.

The lodge is still on Lekkeslaap tourism site. https://www.lekkeslaap.co.za/accommodation/mountain-view-bush-lodge

Here is a statement by the conservation group who discovered the crime:

We have devastating news to share from the African wild dog population in the Waterberg. The TOOG Pack has been persecuted, and six members of the pack have been lost to poisoning. The dogs were found dead last week on a private game farm along the R33, south of Lephalale.

Poison is a horrific way to die, and the dogs felt immense pain before ultimately succumbing to the poison. Poisoning carnivores is illegal in South Africa. It is indiscriminate, unethical, and would have been traumatic for the dogs to experience.

This senseless and selfish act has undermined the efforts of the 55 private farms that have played a role in conserving this pack over the last 3.5 years. This is a devastating loss for the pack, for South Africa's remaining free-roaming African wild dog population, for the Waterberg's biodiversity, for our team, for the community, and for our future generations.

This is an active investigation underneath LEDET Green Scorpions and the SAPS Endangered Species Unit. African wild dogs are protected on the same level as rhinos, and persecuting them is a criminal act.

The Waterberg Wild Dog Initiative is offering a reward for information relating to this crime which results in a successful prosecution. Contact Detective Warrant Officer Cois van Deventer from the South African Police Service – Endangered Species Unit at +27 82 872 1741.

Funds are needed to support the investigation, seek justice for the lost pack members, and safeguard the survivors. Funds may be donated to the TOOG Pack Disaster Fund via Electronic Fund Transfer to:

Waterberg Wild Dogs

First National Bank

Account Number: 62915978227

Branch Code: 210554

Type: Gold Business Account

SWIFT: FIRNZAJJ

Reference: TOOG Disaster

or by Credit Card on our Yoco platform: https://pay.yoco.com/waterberg-wild-dog-initiative1

Please keep our team members in your thoughts. The horrific scene we have witnessed over the last week has been traumatic.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 9.6 (after 1940)

1943 – The Monterrey Institute of Technology is founded in Monterrey, Mexico as one of the largest and most influential private universities in Latin America. 1943 – Pennsylvania Railroad's premier train derails at Frankford Junction in Philadelphia, killing 79 people and injuring 117 others. 1944 – World War II: The city of Ypres, Belgium is liberated by Allied forces. 1944 – World War II: Soviet forces capture the city of Tartu, Estonia. 1946 – United States Secretary of State James F. Byrnes announces that the U.S. will follow a policy of economic reconstruction in postwar Germany. 1952 – A prototype aircraft crashes at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire, England, killing 29 spectators and the two on board. 1955 – Istanbul's Greek, Jewish, and Armenian minorities are the target of a government-sponsored pogrom; dozens are killed in ensuing riots. 1962 – The United States government begins the Exercise Spade Fork nuclear readiness drill. 1962 – Archaeologist Peter Marsden discovers the first of the Blackfriars Ships dating back to the second century AD in the Blackfriars area of the banks of the River Thames in London. 1965 – India retaliates following Pakistan's Operation Grand Slam which results in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 that ends in a stalemate followed by the signing of the Tashkent Declaration. 1966 – Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, is stabbed to death in Cape Town, South Africa during a parliamentary meeting. 1968 – Swaziland becomes independent. 1970 – Two passenger jets bound from Europe to New York are simultaneously hijacked by Palestinian terrorist members of the PFLP and taken to Dawson's Field, Jordan. 1971 – Paninternational Flight 112 crashes on the Bundesautobahn 7 highway near Hamburg Airport, in Hamburg, Germany, killing 22. 1972 – Munich massacre: Nine Israeli athletes die (along with a German policeman) at the hands of the Palestinian "Black September" terrorist group after being taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games. Two other Israeli athletes were slain in the initial attack the previous day. 1976 – Cold War: Soviet Air Defence Forces pilot Viktor Belenko lands a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 jet fighter at Hakodate in Japan and requests political asylum in the United States; his request is granted. 1983 – The Soviet Union admits to shooting down Korean Air Lines Flight 007, stating that its operatives did not know that it was a civilian aircraft when it reportedly violated Soviet airspace. 1985 – Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 crashes near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, killing all 31 people on board. 1991 – The Soviet Union recognizes the independence of the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 1991 – The Russian parliament approves the name change of Leningrad back to Saint Petersburg. The change is effective October 1. 1995 – Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles plays in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking a record that had stood for 56 years. 1997 – The Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people lined the streets and 21⁄2 billion watched around the world on television. 2003 – Mahmoud Abbas resigns from his position of Palestinian Prime Minister. 2007 – Israel executes the air strike Operation Orchard to destroy a nuclear reactor in Syria. 2013 – Forty-one elephants are poisoned with cyanide in salt pans, by poachers in Hwange National Park. 2018 – Supreme Court of India decriminalised all consensual sex among adults in private, making homosexuality legal on the Indian lands. 2022 – Boris Johnson resigns as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and is replaced by Liz Truss. Their meetings with Queen Elizabeth II at Balmoral Castle were the Queen's final official duties before her death two days later. 2022 – Russo-Ukrainian War: Ukraine begins its Kharkiv counteroffensive, surprising Russian forces and retaking over 3,000 square kilometers of land, recapturing the entire Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River, within the next week.

[female-malice]

All countries sell snake oil, not just China. What is up with your weird new fixation on them lol. Not sure what racism is going to help but go off I guess

I'm not even talking about snake oil. Like I said, I don't really care about pseudoscience as long as all you're doing is scamming humans. People all over the world sell magic water and magic bracelets. I don't care. That's not the topic I'm discussing here.

I'm specifically looking at global wildlife trafficking. Should I lie and pretend China doesn't run a global wildlife trafficking network?

One of the main wildlife trafficking problems in the US is venus fly traps. And I did mention venus fly traps in one of my posts. It's one of the few illegal wildlife trades that China isn't involved in. If your wildlife trafficking knowledge was limited to South East US, you might not understand how China is involved.

If you have an America-centric viewpoint, I guess you just wouldn't know. You wouldn't know about the catastrophic destruction Chinese wildlife trafficking has on Latin America, Africa, and Asia. China uses wildlife trafficking as a tool of colonization.

If you want to find out what this actually looks like, watch the Poacher's Pipeline.

Also Sea of Shadows.

Also The Tiger Mafia

Pangolin

Ivory

[projectourworld]

2nd place in the change makers: reasons for hope category. Environmental Photography Awards. Buffelsfontein, South Africa, 2022. Students investigate a model crime scene during a training exercise at the Wildlife Forensic academy. The academy, which is the first of its kind in the world, aims to equip rangers and other environmental law enforcement officers with the skills they need to collect the crucial forensic traces required to successfully prosecute poachers. The rhino used in this staged crime scene was killed and dehorned by poachers before being stuffed and brought in to help train students at the academy. Photograph: Tommy Trenchard : Courtesy The Guardian #rhino #poachers #africa

[darkdreamtheorist]

Sling Set, 2 February (Last of the Marsupilamis, part 3–Summary)

One moistened mid-August, Joan and Megara flew to Bolivia to pick up rare tree turnips on a remote village in Aguapiche for her cousin’s boo Jack, Joan discovers the runaway Navy scientist Dr. Bluebottle and the suprising origins of this escaped convict. 

{About Turnip Trees (Brassica Rapa Andanosia):

hybrid species of edible beetroot grown in parts of South America, Africa and Asia after huge monsoons and during fog seasons

soft red turnips 8-14 weeks, thick n tall Baobabs 7-16 months if left on the ground

Discovered in 1916 after an Eswatini shepherd’s wild dog dug out bunches of turnips entangled in baobab roots

Trees grow turnip buds which bomb down on unsuspecting travelers}

  He was actually a Navy Blue furred Marsupilami named Blubo, a leopard chimp creature rarely seen in the wild, but their bright fur n prehensile tails were hunted down by poachers to line their rumpus rooms and socialites for apparel and accesories. 

  He returned to Aguapiche on the 40th anniversary of two misfortunes: his family’s disappearance and death of the real Bluebottle he was posing as, his life gone in a stampede of freed animals, which wasn’t on Blubo. His curiosity would endanger those around him,but never lead them to certain death, merely looking for ways to ease him and his animal pals. 

  He tracked the hunters back to their basecamp, looking for his family when his wandering eyes darted towards a sketch of his species in Bluebottle’s tent. From afar, a tweedy game hunter mistook Blubo reading his journal in the tent for Bluebottle in his Mar-Suit rehearsing his subject’s behavior when he recons the trees for more Lamis or other animals. Blubo panicked and wrapped himself in his own tail, the nerdy poacher calls out to a burly lead game hunter, alongside Dr. Bluebottle, they missed one. 

He was about to put Blubo in one of Bluebottle’s SOTA thumbprint ID cages with the other animals, later revealed to be Narnians, when he freed all four of his hands and clutched onto the cages, including one with an ornery rhino. The pull was straining him, he lost his grip as the buff poacher twanged his tail like a yo-yo pulling back, but not before Blubo unlocked all the cages with his fingerprints, which were near identical to Bluebottle’s prints. The locks open, then the stampede. the hunters scattered away, one portly poacher knocked the doc back and onto the path of the stampede. Blubo was just ready to follow his family in the commotion until…CRUNCH!!!! 

The last gasp of Bluebottle’s life traumatized dear inquisitive Blubo. He continued his research digsuised as him for 40 years, wearing his labcoat and clothes to conceal his blue fur and leg hands, he even concocted a formula to repress his wild side to look more dogmanish and cover his murder tracks. 

Years pass, he already believed himself to be the real Dr. Bluebottle, and while working under the Navy for their secret anti-radar whale sub, stole it and began seeking notoriety thru this mishap with Glomgold and McDuck’s Savings Game. Could’ve been his Marsupi heart wanted the attention to fund some research grants into searching for Marsupilamis like him while discreetly finding the family he presumably lost after that stampede on Aguapiche. 

  In fact, Seeing these Turnip Trees after escaping Navel custody unlocked forgotten memories of his life as a lasso-tailed leopard chimp, swinging on the branches and bungeeing for fruit and pranking predators while unveiling some wrenching reminders of the incident. He would’ve apologized to those poachers for killing and posing as Bluebottle if he wasn’t targeted by Glomgold, and that some of the poachers were using Circene to release their canine instincts and forms. 

Joan asked why he would pour his backstory on her, it was from her tail Slink’s size and :3 face that Blubo could trust Joan with his confession, both being long-tailed beasts. She aides him from a smudged leopardess (Meg after his Houba shriek disrupted her midnight makeover) and the feralized hunters returning to capture him with his rediscovered family, found alive not dead as he thought they were. Some hightail hijinks and repented sins later, Blubo sighed with contempt returning to spring & swing with his family & animal pals, relieved of a No-Shirt-No-Shoes life but keeps the doc’s lenses as primal cousins do. Just then, police choppers flydown and arrest the feralized poachers to the pound by Ed with the Alphas, Sgt. Basquait & Adm. Grimmitz. Ed got Slink’s comwatch message with Gene’s assist. Grimmitz informs Joan & Blubo he’ll confirm Bluebottle’s death in their files. Meg can give Mark the turnips, and Gene asks Blubo for cryptid research via comwatch.

[ainews]

Confusion is on the rise among horns-lovers as poaching of the animals skyrockets and their numbers decline drastically in both South Africa and Namibia.

The most recent figures suggest the illegal removal of the animals has increased significantly, with more than double the number of horns seized in 2019 compared with 2018. This has led to a sharp decrease in the number of horns being spotted in the wild, leading to an uproar among conservation groups.

The confusion, meanwhile, is due to the lack of tangible measures being put in place to prevent poachers from targeting the horns. While regulations are in place to suspend or redistribute some of the horns, enforcement of these measures is often observed to be lacking.

This inconsistency in policy and regulation is causing frustration among campaigners who were expecting to see a dramatic change in the poaching of the animals following the ban on international trading of rhino horns in 2017.

The increase in poaching of horns has caused further hardship due to the extent to which animal trafficking ties in with organized crime networks and illegal funding streams. Even when the animals are not killed, the selling of their horns is contributing to the already large illegal trade network and undermining the efforts of wildlife organizations.

Environmentalists are concerned that this confusion is contributing to a steady decline in the numbers of horns in the wild and that without a concerted effort to enforce the correct regulations, the situation is unlikely to improve anytime soon.