Frequently Asked
Questions

Ultimately, funding makes the biggest difference.

 

Yes of course, big funding is important as protecting rhinos is incredibly costly, but not all of us have the means. Never let this put you off and never underestimate the difference you can make. Small things that we take for granted, like getting a new torch, can make a significant difference in a ranger's life - from being able to do his job more effectively to being motivated by the kindness of others. Something as simple as supporting data costs - relatively inexpensive - yet an image from a camera trap which leads to the arrest of a poaching group would never have happened if there was no connectivity to alert the rangers.

 

Hold an event, sporting day, donate a portion of sales from a product, help your kids sell cupcakes at school......we have been helped by so many people in so many ways. Get creative!

 

For those of you keen to get involved in anti-poaching, StopRhinoPoaching.com doesn't run Volunteer Programs as such. Security regulations, liability and costs are just too prohibitive.

Our first reaction to this statement is to remind people that if it weren't for all the efforts of so many we would have lost THOUSANDS more rhino over the last few years. The rhino situation needs to be looked at in the context of ever-evolving organised crime and the high level of corruption in South Africa. The proliferation of poaching groups coupled with the complexity of investigating wildlife crimes and our slow court process means that we are up against an escalating threat. Our strategy is to help make individual reserves and security hubs a hard target, minimising the risk to the rhino herds on these reserves. It certainly isn't easy and it's going to take the efforts of all of us to save the rhino, but this is one fight we simply wont walk away from. Irrespective of the challenges we'll be standing side by side supporting rhino reserves and their rangers.

De-horning is being undertaken by many reserves in an attempt to deter poachers from killing their rhinos. There are some strong opinions on dehorning, but its important to remember that the decision to dehorn is never taken lightly and a number of factors are taken into consideration by the reserve managers who choose to go this route. We believe that dehorning is a good medium-term solution in combination with an effective security capability. Yes, dehorned animals will still get poached, but the incentive (and reward) is reduced. Reserves are doing what ever they can to keep their animals alive and we need to support their decisions and efforts. Bluntly speaking, its far better to see a dehorned rhino alive in the bush, than a dead one with its horn hacked off.

Traditional Chinese Medicine has a spiritual and symbolic component that plays a big role in Eastern belief systems. Cow hooves, horses hooves and any other alternative you may come up with may supply a similar chemical composition /substitute, but won’t replace the supposed spiritual characteristics of strength and power contained in a rhino product. Click here for more common myths from Conservation Economist Michael 't sas-Rolfes' website, Rhino Economics.

There has also been much said about the production of synthetic rhino horn. Our friends at Save The Rhino International have produced a comprehensive piece on this matter - click here for more.

 

TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, released its report titled The South African - Viet Nam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus in August 2012. This report gives an excellent review of the rhino crisis including rhino horn uses and consumers. You will find a link on our Rhino Knowledge page.

If one were to infiltrate a black market, rather let all that time and effort go into arresting them! There are an increasing number of opportunists who are trying to sell off fake horns, some of which are very realistic. Ultimately though, organised crimes syndicates are able to tell the difference quite easily and the chances of these horns making it on to the market from South Africa are slim. Interestingly, water buffalo and cow horn is widely offered for sale as rhino horn in consumer countries, users being none the wiser.

There is no way that a fake horn can be attached to a rhino, which is an incredibly strong animal that exerts a lot of pressure on its horn when using it.

A wide scope of tried and tested technology solutions, as well as proof of concept projects, have already been implemented in reserves across South Africa. One of the most inhibitive factors is cost to procure and sustain. Secondly would be practical application in the bush (electricity supply problems, connectivity, animal interference, tampering, solar panels being stolen etc) and thirdly the sheer size of the areas in question. These three points quickly eliminate what seem to be obvious options, but by far the most relevant deciding factor is whether there is an effective security plan in place to follow up on alerts. Its all fine an well to spend a small fortune on tech, but the next question is - once you know a threat is there, what are you going to do about it? This next phase - actual reaction - is an even more complex topic.

To address some of the more common tech questions we get....

TRACKING DEVICES: There are already a number of tracking devices on the market. We actively support the roll out and deployment of a system developed by Rouxcel Technology. Rouxcel Technology is a conservation company specializing in the design and deployment of rhino collars which detect and transmit abnormal rhino behaviour in real-time. The system consists of two main components, namely AI-Enabled Rhino Collars and a Private Network. The Rhino Collar design includes smart algorithms which continuously monitor the rhino’s behaviour. An alert is generated in the event of abnormal behavioural activity which pinpoints the incident location via GPS. This enables the effective, real-time investigation of possible poaching incidents. Visit their website for more information visit https://www.rouxcel.com/

UNMANNED AIRCRAFT/DRONES: contrary to widespread media hype and claims by some suppliers that they have the silver bullet to stop all poaching, this is just not the case. Even after all these years, a drone/UAV will NOT miraculously find poachers in the bush. What has worked in conflict areas will not necessarily work in the African bush! Considerations: size determines payload (the quality of the sensors that are attached to the UAV) which determines the quality of what you can actually see. The bigger the drone and the more advanced the sensors, the higher the price tag which ranges into mil-spec equipment not available for our use. Endurance and range - how far can it fly and for how long. Type - fixed wing vs rotary wing vs VTOL (vertical take off and lift). Big systems need more landing space, which can be challenging when in the middle of the bush. Big systems also need multiple operators, which means doubling up on teams for duty rotation, which all just adds a lot of prohibitive costs. These are just a few points out of many. Since the early days of UAV’s entering the rhino conservation and protection space, much headway has been made in how this technology can best be applied. There are some reserve blazing a trail for others to follow, especially with regards to reaction capabilities, follow up overwatch and general conservation work.

Since starting the site we have been contacted by numerous security companies wanting to get involved. Because security is very subjective - what is a good idea to one may not be to another - and is dependent on so many variables, we do not necessarily get involved in this area. There are also established security companies, experienced in wildlife protection, who are contracted to the majority of the large private rhino reserves.

R&D projects: while we are open to ideas, and while we appreciate the enthusiasm, these are usually very difficult to manage and we are not in a position to fund such projects.

This is not an easy one to explain. Although many might not like it, the ethical hunting of rhinos does play a role in rhino conservation.

This is perhaps the most controversial topic around at the moment, and one that is polarising efforts and rhino organisations. Please note that StopRhinoPoaching.com is ISSUE NEUTRAL on trade. There is a great deal of content (both pro and anti-trade) to be found on the internet covering this subject.

StopRhinoPoaching.com is NOT an activist organisation. We have a huge responsibility towards our corporate partners and to maintaining a close relationship with those role players who welcome our assistance - some of whom are provincial and national authorities. There is great scope for CONSTRUCTIVE protest.

Rhino poaching is incredibly complex transnational crime involving organised criminal syndicates. There is no single solution or quick fix. Bringing down the poaching figures is going to take a complex set of strategies involving an all-of-government whole of society approach. Even though the crisis sometimes feels insurmountable, for the rhino' sake we need to keep on trying.