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Spotlight on Rhino Poaching:
Dr. Pretorius is actively involved in efforts to support rhino conservation, including the campaign to stop rhino poaching. She was recently appointed by the South African Minister of Agriculture as a Councillor to the South African Veterinary Council, and serves as an official spokesperson against such activities. Rhinos are currently in a global crisis situation and face the threat of extinction. Africa is home to two species of rhinoceros, the black rhino (Diceros bicornis) and the white rhino (Ceratotherium simum). Poaching and habitat destruction have caused the population to dwindle. Recent conservation efforts helped recover the population of white rhinos from a staggering 200 animals at the turn of the twentieth century to approximately 18,000 free-ranging individuals today. Black rhinos still face the threat of extinction, with numbers of approximately 4,200 throughout Africa.
Rhino horn is used in traditional Asian medicine and is highly prized on the black market. Rhino poaching has become a high-stakes endeavor involving organized crime networks. These networks sometimes include politicians, foreign diplomats, as well as professionals who should be working to aid the species, such as veterinarians, bush pilots, and those involved in the wildlife industry. For their incredible size, rhino have very poor eyesight. Relying mainly on their senses of smell and hearing to warn them of approaching danger, experienced poachers are able to track and stalk an animal to shoot it, either killing the animal or leaving it to die by fatal hemorrhaging.
Poachers are indiscriminate when it comes to taking horn, as has been proven by the number of pregnant cows or cows with calves that have been killed. Calves are often killed as well; the small sliver of horn hacked from their faces, or left to fate alongside their dead mothers. The loss of breeding cows and calves is one that no rhino species can afford.
Dr. Pretorius experienced the threat of rhino poaching first-hand, when her own rhino patients came under fire while being housed at her veterinary facility at Thaba Manzi. One of her rhinos was hit 10 times with a machine gun, and is now undergoing treatment to recover from his wounds. Dr. Pretorius is concerned that poachers will attack her facility again, and she is taking measures to step-up security in the area. It isn't easy to defend against this type of attack, however, as poachers use high-powered rifles and machine guns which are deadly to both the animals as well as those working to defend them. Rhinos are being shot daily in South Africa. Dr. Pretorius needs our help to ensure these animals are protected. Silent Heroes Foundation will work to provide supplies necessary to care for injured rhinos, and to aid in the security of her veterinary facility.
There are several organizations working to support rhino conservation and to help stop poaching. For more information about the good work they do, please visit the websites listed below. We encourage you to support these organizations, and help spread the word to stop rhino poaching. If you would like to help us support Dr. Pretorius in her efforts to care for rhinos, support rhino conservation, and stop rhino poaching, please donate supplies or money that will go towards the purchase of supplies on her wish list.
For more information on Dr. Pretorius and Thaba Manzi Wildlife Services please visit:
www.thabamanzivet.co.za
You may also find out about our work with Dr. Pretorius on our website
and on Facebook.
For more information on the current problem with rhino poaching:
www.stoprhinopoaching.com
For information on rhino conservation: www.savf.org.za
