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PRESS RELEASE
Putting the wolves in charge of the lambs? (In response to press release issued by WRSA’s press release calling on the DA to withdraw its call for a moratorium on the legal hunting of rhinos) The call of the DA’s Gareth Morgan for a temporary moratorium is welcome by the animal welfare and conservation communities. The call by WRSA (Wildlife Ranchers South Africa) on the DA to withdraw their call for a temporary moratorium is very alarming and the public at large needs a better understanding of the threats facing rhinos to make an informed decision to support or oppose a call for a moratorium on the hunting of these beautiful animals. WRSA claims to be a national organisation representative of private game farmers and breeders that regard their business as purely commercial. Their overriding consideration in respect of South Africa’s wildlife heritage; inclusive of rhinos is not based on true conservation principles, but on short term financial gain. To save rhinos from certain extinction new innovative solutions will need to be found on an urgent basis while applying the precautionary principle in respect of the consumptive use of rhinos. The concept of “if it pays, it stays” has become the norm on many privately owned game farms and here wildlife is not protected on the basis of their species importance, endangered status or as sentient creatures that share our planet The misinterpretation of the sustainable utilisation concept by the commercial wildlife industry seriously impact on bio-diversity conservation in respect to the breeding and distribution of many split gene species such as golden blue wildebeest, golden gemsbok, black impala and so forth. True conservation principles have been replaced by selective species conservation practised by a large number of private landowners, game breeders and professional hunting outfitters that supply a growing demand for unique and rare species to the trophy hunting industry. Claims made by WRSA that their members invest millions of rands to conserve rhinos for future generations is simply not true and should be discarded with the contempt it deserves. It is especially those that run trophy hunting operations and those that want the trade in rhino horn legalised that make their investment purely for short-term financial gain and most definitely not to conserve and protect for future generations. Had the overriding objective been the conservation and protection of the species, WRSA could have taken the initiative of calling for an immediate moratorium until such time as a full audit can be done of how many rhinos can be found on private land, provincial and national parks. It is essential that an annual hunting quota is determined and set down by independent conservationists and environmental consultants that have no vested interest in the consumptive use of the species. The hunting of rhino cows can never be justified; even if their horn size exceeds that of rhino bulls in some instances. The hunting of and the trading in fully productive females; some pregnant and some with un-weaned young take place on a regular basis. Certainly this is not what one expects from an industry that claims they are working towards the preservation and protection of the species for future generations. A quota system is urgently needed to determine what number of rhinos can be hunted annually without impacting on the survival of the species. Informed decisions can only be made once a full audit has been done and the numbers of rhinos lost as a result of natural mortalities, legal hunting and poaching has been established and is compared in context with the current population growth. Hunting rhinos on demand with no control and checks in place is simply irresponsible. With an estimated 21 000 white rhinos and 1800 black rhinos in South Africa it is not difficult to realise how easily rhinos can be pushed back to the brink of extinction. With a gestation period of 18 months an adult cow produces a single calf every 5 years or so. The overall rhino population growth is set down around 5% per year and while WRSA claims that 50% of rhinos born every year are males it is easy to calculate that the number of breeding cows is not really that high. The loss of a single white rhino as a result of poaching, legal hunting or natural mortalities can put the population growth back with at least 8 years. The irresponsible slaughter of rhinos cannot be allowed to continue; be it poaching or the use and abuse of a legal permitting system. The rights of all South Africans in respect to our natural heritage; irrespective if the natural heritage is located on private or land under government control cannot be dictated by WRSA simply because they do not regard themselves as custodians of nature, but as a commercial entity hell bent on short term financial gain. The survival of an icon species such as rhinos should be everybody’s right and concern and the current push to open the trade in rhino horn should be opposed by the public with the knowledge that no matter how many rhinos are dehorned annually; South Africa could never hope to satisfy and supply the growing demand for rhino horn. There are simply not enough rhinos left in this world to provide sufficient horns to satisfy the market. As with canned lion hunting it is only a small group of people in South Africa that stand to “make a killing” financially if the trade in rhino horn is opened. As the demand continues to grow rhinos will be driven back to the brink of extinction and could very well be lost forever. The inability of the provincial conservation departments to adequately deal with the survival and conservation of the species should not be abused. Government must be afforded the time to get their house in order and move all decision making about and the permitting of trophy hunts to national level. It has been proven time and time again that this matter cannot be handled effectively on provincial level. Recent media reports highlighted abuse and possible corruption that takes place regularly on provincial level. South Africa has become the
skunk of the international trophy hunting industry and we simply
cannot allow ourselves to also become the skunk of the
international conservation fraternity as a result of our
sustainable use policy that clearly promote abuse and allows for
the blatant exploitation of our natural heritage. The fact is
that our rhinos are under threat; a threat so serious that they
may become extinct. Filling the pocket of individual hunting
outfitters and game breeders cannot be achieved on the lives of
an icon species that could be lost forever!
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