mongabay.com logo About  |   Contact  |  Mongabay on Facebook  |  Mongabay on Twitter  |  Free newsletter
Rainforests | Tropical fish | Environmental news | Blog | For kids | Madagascar | Photos | Non-English languages | Tropical Conservation Science
SHARE:
print


UN official: Zimbabwe security forces poached 200 rhinos
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
February 14, 2010



Last week the secretary of the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Willem Wijnstekers, announced that security forces in Zimbabwe had poached approximately 200 rhinos in a two year period. He did say how many elephants were poached by security forces.

The revelation means that Zimbabwe will have to explain the poaching to CITES or lose their ability to trade ivory.

The minister of Environment and Natural Resources Management, Francis Nehma, says that the nation needs vehicles and helicopters to control the troubled nation's widespread poaching problem. Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai (in a power-sharing agreement with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe) said that security forces involved in poaching must be brought before the law and punished.

Rhinos have almost vanished from Zimbabwe due to a poaching epidemic.




The Critically Endangered black rhino continues to be threatened by poachers across Africa. Approximately 4,000 survive in the wild. Photo by: Rhett Butler.







Related articles

Face-to-face with what may be the last of the world's smallest rhino, the Bornean rhinoceros

(12/01/2009) Nothing can really prepare a person for coming face-to-face with what may be the last of a species. I had known for a week that I would be fortunate enough to meet Tam. I'd heard stories of his gentle demeanor, discussed his current situation with experts, and read everything I could find about this surprising individual. But still, walking up to the pen where Tam stood contentedly pulling leaves from the hands of a local ranger, hearing him snort and whistle, watching as he rattled the bars with his blunted horn, I felt like I was walking into a place I wasn't meant to be. As though I was treading on his, Tam's space: entering into a cool deep forest where mud wallows and shadows still linger. This was Tam's world; or at least it should be.


In midst of poaching crisis, illegal rhino horn tops gold

(11/25/2009) Rhino poaching has hit a fifteen-year high, and the rising price for black-market rhino horn is likely the reason why. For the first time in a decade rhino horn is worth more than gold: a kilo of rhino horn is worth approximately 60,000 US dollars while gold is a little over 40,600 US dollars.


Illegal ivory demand could wipe out Africa's elephants by 2025

(10/20/2009) Nearly twenty years ago the ivory trade was banned by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Many saw this as the most important step in preventing the continued loss of elephants at the hands of poachers, and for awhile poaching slowed down. But now elephants are in danger again: a report by the International Fund for Wildlife Welfare (IFWW) states that an astounding 38,000 elephants are killed for their tusks annually—over a hundred every day.






CITATION:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com (February 14, 2010). UN official: Zimbabwe security forces poached 200 rhinos. http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0214-hance_zimpoach.html


Tags:
Zimbabwe rhinos elephants africa southern africa mammals poaching wildlife endangered species corruption jeremy hance green environment animals ivory trade conservation United Nations governance

print



Environmental news index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home


Advertisements:





Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant t-shirts
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog t-shirts
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog
Licking this frog may make you crazy t-shirts
Licking this frog may make you crazy




DON'T LIKE ADS? Become a mongabay supporter


WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Email:


RECENT FEATURES
As Amazon deforestation falls, food production risesAs Amazon deforestation falls, food production rises
Biggest environmental news stories of 2011Biggest environmental news stories of 2011
The year in review for rainforestsThe year in review for rainforests
Our top nature pictures of 2011Our top nature pictures of 2011


POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Amazon rainforest
Congo rainforest
Deforestation data
Rainforest canopy

Special sections
New Guinea
Finding new species
Sulawesi
Madagascar
Borneo
REDD

News
Most popular articles
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Saving orangutans in Borneo
Palm oil
Amazon palm oil
Future of the Amazon
Cane toads
Dubai environment
Investing to save rainforests
Visiting the rainforest
Biomimicry
Defaunation
Blue lizard
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Industrial deforestation
Save the Amazon
Rainforests & REDD
Brazil's Amazon plan
Avatar story
Amazon ranching

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Conservation
Climate Change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Indonesia
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
Wildlife
MORE TOPICS



Non-English Sites
Chinese
French
German
Indonesian
Italian
Portuguese
Spanish
Other languages

Nature Blog Network







Photos
Brazil photos
Brazil

China photos
China

Colombia photos
Colombia

Costa Rica photos
Costa Rica

Deforestation photos
Deforestation

Gabon photos
Gabon

India photos
India

Indonesia photos
Indonesia

Kenya photos
Kenya

Madagascar photos
Madagascar

Peru photos
Peru

Peru photos
Rainforest



ABOUT
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com


CALENDARS



BOOKS BY MONGABAY AUTHORS
Rainforest book for kids Conservation in an age of mass extinction


FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER



HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS








Copyright mongabay 2010

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect,
an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region.
Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant.