Rhino Horn Infusion Launch: Tuesday, Sept 10, 2013 Tembe Elephant Park Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (‘Ezemvelo’) has become the first state conservation agency in Africa to trial the poisoning of rhino horn to deter the rampant poaching of this species. This poisoning (‘toxic infusion’) and the further injection of an indelible dye into the horn will render it unsafe for any consumption. The brainchild of a Gauteng-based organisation Rhino Rescue Project, both the toxin and dye will be injected into the horns of the Tembe Elephant Park and Ndumo Game Reserve populations of White and Black Rhino on the Mozambique border. This pioneering trial rhino horn infusion programme is being funded by the Peace Parks Foundation as part of their broader involvement in the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area that connects protected areas in Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland. The injection of this poisoned insecticide (‘ectoparasiticides’) and the infusion of this indelible colored dye are the work of Rhino Rescue Project’s two founders Dr Charles van Niekerk and Dr Lorinda Hern. Both infusions are considered harmless to rhino. Dr van Niekerk said the poison could be safely and relatively quickly injected into the base of the horn, spreading throughout the keratin protein that comprises a horn, making it “extremely toxic ” in the event of human consumption. The indestructible dye acts as a warning to end-users that a horn has been contaminated and should not be consumed as well as reducing its aesthetic appeal: “This dye is visible on an x-ray scanner even when the horn is ground to a fine powder. Airport security checkpoints are almost certain to pick up the presence of this dye”. The discoloration of the horn is only visible externally as a pinkish marking at the horn’s tip. Aside from rendering the horn worthless as an ornament and discouraging it as a medicinal compound, the dye also serves as a marking, one that can be detected by X-Ray machines at airports, for example. As part of this pilot project, each rhino will have their DNA recorded and transponders inserted: - all further deterrents for poachers. The Ndumo and Tembe reserves have been selected because they are considered the frontline of future rhino poaching in KZN. The trial project at Ndumo and Tembe represents a collaborative venture amongst the financiers of this specific trial Peace Parks Foundation and Rhino Rescue Project, Pretoria University (ongoing toxicological and pharmacological research) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. All partners agreed that this project will serve to facilitate further research and development into this procedure. Dr Richard Burroughs of Pretoria University will lead the research programme and establish a research committee amongst the involved parties. “There is no silver bullet in stopping rhino poaching. But the chance to expand this infusion process alongside a state conservation agency like ‘Ezemvelo’ offers us our greatest opportunity yet to expand on the positive feedback we have received over the two and a half years we have been testing this on private reserves in Limpopo and North West Province,” said Dr van Niekerk. All parties agreed that the ‘toxic infusion’ only one of a number of anti-rhino poaching strategies presently in place: “It replaces nothing but just adds to the deterrent factor”. Costing about R8 000 to treat one rhino horn Peace Parks Foundation secured funding for this experiment from such partners as Neville and Pamela Isdell, the Liberty Wildlife Fund as well as the Sophia Foundation. A dedicated account has been set up by Peace Parks Foundation where 100% of any donation will be allocated towards this exercise. Details of this fund can be found on peaceparks.org. As an organisation whose core business facilitates transfrontier conservation development in the region, Peace Parks Foundation said they were keen to partner governments in wildlife crime, specifically, in this case, in the Lubombo Transfrontier Conservation Area (TFCA). This region includes a TFCA between the KZN reserves of Ndumo Game Reserve and Tembe Elephant Park and the Maputo Special Reserve in Southern Mozambique. “It is critical to the development of transfrontier conservation that practical, well considered methods be implemented to combat wildlife crime, including the slaughtering of rhino. The Lubombo TFCA has seen many successes. One cannot allow wildlife criminals to obstruct that development in any way,” said Werner Myburgh, Peace Parks Foundation CEO. He added that by directly targeting the value chain of illegal trade by pro-actively devaluing the asset (horn) meant the risks will soon start outweighing the rewards for criminal syndicates. Depending on the results of this trial project, ‘Ezemvelo’ would be prepared to expand this ‘toxic infusion’ programme to its other rhino populations throughout KZN. “We are impressed with the Rhino Rescue Project’s research and development; certainly enough for us to embrace this programme wholeheartedly. There are no guarantees but infusing both a toxic substance and indelible dye into the horn should act as very definite impediment to purchasers and users of poached horn,” said Cedric Coetzee, Ezemvelo’s Anti-Rhino Poaching Co-Ordinator. KZN’s provincial government’s MEC for Agriculture and Environmental Affairs Dr BM Radebe embraced the project as an “outstanding experiment”. “We will try pretty much anything to dampen the motivation for killing our rhino. But I am enthusiastic about this development and I hope our communities will embrace it as much as I do. We simply must slow down these dreadful attacks on our natural heritage. If successful I will encourage my colleagues to expand this to other rhino populations throughout our parks,” he said. Community representatives from both KZN and Southern Mozambique will be closely involved in the pilot project. This will include ‘Ezemvelo’s’ 200 Rhino Ambassadors that were appointed to patrol and monitor the Ndumo / Tembe region as part of a 400-strong broader community awareness programme started last year by ‘Ezemvelo’ in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park protected area. At present some 618 rhino have been poached in South Africa this year, 62 of them in KZN.
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 20:15:52 +0000
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