The Chinese wildlife reserves are buy rhinos to farm them for their horns. China has imported more than 141 live white rhinos from South Africa since 2000 for these farming purposes. The British and European Union officials are questioning the Chinese government if they are allowing the farming of rhinos. Rhinos are among the most endangered animals in the world, and in the last 50 years the number of live rhinos has decreased catastrophically. The Javan rhino is close to extinction, with only 130 creatures left and the closely related Sumatran rhino is close to 300.
Namibia's black desert rhino are safe-for now. In July 1989, a few months prior to the country's independence from South Africa, we reported that the last 400 desert rhino in the world were threatened with extinction from poaching.
Instead, thanks to monitoring and security measures, not only have Namibia's rhino been saved, but their numbers have increased to 700. According to Blythe Loutit, director of fieldwork for the Save the Rhino Trust, the displacement of white government officials and army officers after independence actually decreased the number of poaching incidents. Not exactly what we predicted.
"The real problem now is the influx of Chinese into the country," says Loutit. "They use rhino horns for medicinal purposes, so it's no secret that they're moving in, intent on setting up poaching systems across the country."
