This is so sad 8( breaks my heart that they would destroy these wonderful animals.. The military needs to hunt these poachers down and execute them.

Can't we find some sort of bone that we can grind up and flood the Asian Market with counterfeit horn. If the quantity of available "horn" doesn't drop the value; the fact that there is a lot of it counterfeits out there will, few will pay a high price if they don't know what they are getting. Or do they grind the horn front of the customer? And, cut off their damn horns. Do they really need them for anything?

What they need to do is start a rumor in Asia that Rhino horn will give you the limp D.

Can't somebody educate these people that they're wasting their money on a noneffective cure?

A little education goes a long way! Stupid people do stupid things!

That's a good idea, Gil. We could grind up horses hooves or something similar. Same material anyway (keratin). Flood the market with it.

Southern, save the racism... blacks are the ones doing the poaching because most of the poor people who would do such a thing are blacks. It was the whites in the US who drove passenger pigeons to extinction for exactly the same reason. If you want to indulge your racism, why not blame asians who are the the group driving it.

I do blame Asians. The asians are killing off all the animals on the planet.

ACTUALLY, Southern, though it is a Democratic 'State,' there are 13 different political parties that run Parliment, including Republican parties, so your statement is false. There was a time South Africa used to be a haven for Nazi's, or did you forget the neo-nazi apartheid regime that came to power in 1948? BTW, why use OUR guns when SA's own Government gave out over a million AK-47's to their own citizens to protect themselves from other countries invading them, like Mozambique? Oh wait, don't let facts get in the way of your vacuous blatherings.

Hey, southern, just to inject a bit of reality: - the poachers would end up putting you in a cage and selling you to the Asians. Then the descendants of slaves, illegals, and yokel sharecroppers who make up the volunteer army would have to come and save your ass. Too expensive for the tax payer.

It really doesn't matter WHO or WHAT ethnic group is killing them. They are being killed for profit to be sold in ASIA for some superfluous medicinal reason.

Find the perpetrators and KILL THEM. Kill the persons involved in the trafficking. I don't care if they're black, white, purple, red, brown or green! Then let the lions and Hyenas feast on their remains.

@Fantomdog

You need to read a lot of history books since you got ZERO facts right. South Africa was never a haven for nazi's there are some and there were some during WWII during which time it was a British colony, gaining independence from England in 1963. Then the National party took power, they were the party of Apartheid. The Afrikaner Weerstandweging is the nazi party in South Africa. South Africa's government never handed out AK to the citizenry and Mozambique hasn't been a threat other than border skirmishes since the USSR fell and that was before Mandella took power.

And Southern is correct, he may not be politically correct, but truth trumps political correctness

Since China puts melamine in baby formula, sheetrock, and so on.... why don't we doctor up melamine to look like ground up rhino horns. Flood the market, and after awhile, all those that need the stuff will parish. Well, OK, so maybe they'll just get sick, and the word will spread that ground up rhino horn [aka: melamine] makes you sick.

Yeah, I know! I know!! Too damn easy!!

MSNBC...Khalid-2395974 post #1.1 Clearly breaks the 'Code of Honor' by generalizing all gun owners as 'gun nuts' The post also makes reference to culling of some animals that has been proven to be better for wildlife overall and has been done and sanctioned for years by the Department of Wildlife and other state and federal agencies.

Read it.

I agree, For Khalid to make general damning statments about "gun nuts", and then accuse Southern of being racist for making a counter-point is pretty obtuse. I'm one of those gun nuts, and I only shoot at paper targets. I am also tree hugger, and I don't see those two things in conflict. Gun ownership is totally beside the point in this conversation. The point is, desperate people are slaughtering endangered animals (one of my personal favorite animals, BTW) in order to feed a nuerotic and ingnorant need in Asia. Don't they have the g***damn little blue pill in Asia?

The homeland of the animals in the wild needs to be worth more there and alive. People will get behind this.Extinction is forever ! Lets just drop leaflets down on them to educate them!!!!!SOMETHING ... NOW!

This is not just sad, it is SHAMEFUL. Man kind has destroyed too many species all in the name of the mighty dollar. Humanity will pay one day for what it has brought to this planet.

Rhino horns can be removed without pain and regrown, again without pain as longas it isnt cut too short. Instead of allowing for poaching, maybe try opening up a rhino farm, where they (much like sheep and their fur) can be treated properly and without pain. This would significantly decrease poaching activites as the demand for illegally purchased rhino horn wouldn't be as present, thus protecting the overall species. More so, without OUR demand for rhino horn, poachers would have no desire to attack these animals. Do YOUR part and make sure you and those around you don't buy rhino, ivory (elephant tusks), or any other product that comes results from these activities.

@PointsToPonder & On_the_other_hand

Do you actually expect people who use the term "gun nuts" to be intelligent and have the ability to express themselves in a dignified manner? Khalid's post again shows the mindset of people who "are right all the time and anybody who thinks differently is wrong". I'm sure you know to whom I refer. (see the post directly above for further clarification) It's best to just ignore the trolls.

Although it is good that the news people are letting the world know of what is going on, maybe they should be a bit more discreet about naming names and where they live.

rc--It's the Plutocrat's world, and they own the Republicans AND the Democrats wholesale. Make no mistake about it.

Khalid, see you got flagged there. GOOD! I am a "gun nut". I own DOZENS of guns. I am VERY good with them. As a former Marine, MOS 0317, I am exceptional. I hunt, I kill animals every year. Then *GASP* I EAT them. As a hunter I DO preserve wildlife. Adamantly. I will never hunt an endangered animal. I will never hunt an animal I can not eat. I donate thousands of dollars every year to aid conservation and education. I TEACH hunters safety to pass these same values on to young people growing up doing what I did...AND I AM PROUD OF IT!

And quite frankly I LOVE your idea. Greedy animals who would hunt a magnificent creature to extinction for money deserve no...less. I'll even pay for my own ammo! Now you run along and slander someone else.

rc-41211998... that's about the stupidest thing I've seen written. Of all the things Democraps can be rightfully blamed for, the killing of rhinos is not something I would try to hang on them. I just hope you are too young to vote or too dumb to find the polling location.

xbonz, one of my favorite people and a gun collector referred to himself as a "gun nut" and he was the subject, are we becoming a little too thin-skinned for our own good? If you can fire a weapon in your own defense you can surely see when it's not necessary to defend yourself, can't you? "Gun Nut" is a universal term used by weapons collectors, hunters and survivalists and isn't offensive unless you are way, waaaaaay too serious about yourself. Get over silly semantics and go bag a deer and send me some jerky, gun nut! Lol :D

you know I always thought that Americans were explpoiters, but it seems like I hear quite a few stories of Asians jsut grabbing whatever. The Japanese and their whaling, and the Chinese have stolen billions in intellectual property.

I say if you see a Poacher, slaughter them. Shoot them, kill them, no more huggy wuggy cuddle monster unarmed guards, these Poachers need to be whole sale butchered. I'm sorry, but I'm tired of hearing of such cruelty, and yet it just increasing and increasing rapidly. These poachers need to die, then have their bloody, battered, broken heads mounted in a pike around the reserve, just so any of these little sharts think to try and do this again, they'll find themselves made an example of.

That or get a special effects guy to build the area around the reserve up like a horror film, or one of the old Diablo games. I doubt poachers would be leaping around if you could give them a convincing show of a human corpse with it's layers of skin peeled off like an onion. Terrify them, show them there is so much to lose just to try to get that horn... they're going to hunt this animal to extinction with their greed.

@GBaby1:

I respectfully disagree. The OP used gun nut in derogatory manner. This was no humor in it, as there would be when a gun enthusiast uses that term. Thin skinned? Nope, just really tired of ignoramuses who are unable to make conversation without the ability to do so politely and intelligently. By the way, I don't hunt, bag your own deer. :)

Where is team Obama on this issue? They can make a big deal out of Romney carrying a dog on the roof of his car 30 years ago (animal abuse), but no effort at all to save the Rhinos from extinction... Pathetic!

@Justified. I don't believe Obama has ever mentioned Seamus. If so, please provide a site. So why bring him into it. You can bring me into it....I'm buying a "dogs against Romney" sticker. As an animal lover, and especially a dog lover, I believe it was the wrong way to treat his dog. I believe the term "dominion" over the animals means their care, husbandry and stewardship, and to treat them as we treat all living things - with respect. Generally animals live in and are taught by their families for a period of time, they have emotion, they love and take care of their young. What makes us better than them?

Some people can and will blame President for everything.

Do you think he should flush your toilet for you?

Hunt down the poachers and the middlemen. Put a bullet through their skulls and leave the bodies to rot. And let's not forget the brokers.

Btw, to those who got bent out of shape thinking my comment referred to them: in addition to being a gun nut, do you also have "... a Punisher complex and streak for vigilantism ..."? Since that's what I wrote, and all.

B/c if you know that such a description applies to you, well... you really should be seeking help, and staying far away from guns.

Just saying

Just like the drug mania in North America that supports the murderous cartels, it is the demand for rhino horn that drives the poaching. Killing off a few poachers or smugglers cannot end the trade.

Gil's idea of flooding the market with phony rhino horn is a good one - I would go a step further. Add a difficult-to-detect poison to the faux horn, with the intent to sicken or kill off those who lust for the stuff. If there is a reasonable chance that the rhino horn will sicken the users, demand and price should drop to zero.

@misty, he already flushed the toilet, the economy was in it

@Cathym...Say what you want about Romney, but at least he only put a dog on the roof of his car, not the roof of his mouth !!!

I'm with you Tyrone!

I could not agree with you more Tyrone. I have several rifles I could add to the mix!

I'm in, we need to get medieval on their ass's. Anyone who does that is not human!

I would contribute to a fund to send heavily, heavily armed defenders of rhino and elephants to Africa to kill the poachers. But we need to send even more heavily armed gangs to China and Viet Nam to kill the brokers who are paying to kill off all the animals on the planet. I think we should have carpet bombed Viet Nam out of existence when we had the chance.

Skylark, carpetbomb Viet Nam out of existance....you're an @!$%#...58,000 Aemericans died trying to help half of the country out. Killing everyone in the country would defeat it's purpose that those men died for. And how much of that wild life you care about would die during your bombing raids? Something tells me you're not up on your history. I guess we should take out the whole middle east since we're over there too? Maybe you just hate asians?

I agree with Tyrone. If some decent snipers started taking out these poachers as they approached the sedated animal, I think the change in the risk/benefit ratio might have an impact. Then go medieval with the dead poachers and put them on spikes for all their buddies to see.

normally i dont wish attack on any1 but if you can do that and volunteer to stop these poachers then i would glady help you and donate so you get the proper tools. its sadly the only option to stop them.

I would not mind adding a Barrett, a little better range probably then the poachers have, and definitely better stopping power. I also like the idea I read above about using horse hooves as a substitute for rhino horn and flooding the market with it billed as horn. Something really needs to be done and soon.

the poarchers have elephant rifels u need a powerful rifell 2 stop them shotguns dont have long distance tho in the 1st 150' there super

If we're going to get to the bottom of or "Top Of" as the case may be of these poaching/purchasing Rings.....why don't they hire a team of military trained snipers to "Tranqaulize" not "Kill" the poachers.... I don't belieive in killing a human in name of an animal....... Then introduce the waking Poacher to American or better yet--non-U.N. affiliated nation's.... "Advanced Interrogation Tactics"..... answers to the Name and Location of ring leaders will be sure to follow.............

@ Whats the F, unfortunately on our planet, we have way too many individuals that are worth less than an animal. I'd be more apt these days to run into a house to save a dog than some low level d-bag.

I happen to have a Barrett M82 .50 cal. My Browning .300 Mag has very good range as well. Throw in my DPMS A4 for medium range and my 1911-A1 for close work...Gimme 30 minutes to pack and I'm ready to roll. The people making money from this tragedy could care less they are destroying a species. They can't do so if we eliminate the OTHER greedy people willing to go in to the bush and do the killing. The laws DO NOT WORK. Poachers are more afraid of snake bites than getting caught by the law. They need to be MADE scared.

Yes, they should wise up! We all know that cancer is cured by a proprietary mix of herbs available at any health food store. Yes, they are "unproven" since the FDA and the medical associations try to squash all cancer cures they can't patent. We Americans are so much smarter than those Asians - the billions we spend on homeopathy, chiropractors, and herbal remedies prove it! Our anecdotal results and claims are so much more reliable than theirs.

Pbarnhart has made a major point. The USA has some amazingly stupid people who think homeopathy works. And conspiracy theorists are quick to claim all kinds of conspiracies, even though they can be disproven easily.

I have also heard rumors that various diseases have been "cured", but the "medical establishment" has quashed the information. But think about it. Wouldn't they make even more money if they owned a cure for cancer or diabetes?

Asians are no more gullible than us Americans.

Well actually Pbarnhart I just read that some Canadian scientists have just received more money to study Dandelion Tea which has been shown to kill cancerous cells in the lab.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/04/20/wdr-dandelion-tea-research-grant.html

They started researching after noticing patients getting better after drinking the tea. We'll see how the results go.

"The USA has some amazingly stupid people who think homeopathy works."

Actually, Jim, you are showing your ignorance. Look up vaccines which I am going to guess you get plenty of those for yourself and your family.

Here is a definition of a vaccine:

A vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism, and is often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe, its toxins or one of its surface proteins. The agent stimulates the body's immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and "remember" it, so that the immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microorganisms that it later encounters.

Here the definition of homeopathy: Practitioners treat patients using highly diluted preparations believed to cause symptoms in healthy individuals similar to the undesired symptoms of the person treated.

Results with homeopathy may vary, just as a patients reactions to vaccines may vary.

Anecdotal cases, I have a close friend who has had multiple sclerosis for over a decade and she chooses to use homeapathy as her only treatment for MS. She still lives a full and active life with very few exacerbations whereas I have another very intelligent friend who also has multiple sclerosis in the last ten years. He is a lawyer, but believes in "mainstream" medicine, hence he follows his allopathic doctors orders and takes his "pills." He is in a wheelchair...

Will somebody please get huge range assault rifles and blow the poachers and their families all to death? PLease. We need to do this now. Carpet bomb the damn country. They deserve it much more than the Iraqis ever did.

skylark: Funniest comment I've read all day. Carpet bomb the country? You do know where these rhinos are living, right?

sharktopussie -

I hear you loud and clear. But let's get something straight. I am not ignorant.

In the first place, vaccines stimulate the immune system in a specific way. There is plenty of bona fide peer-reviewed scientific evidence for vaccine efficacy.

In the second place, the only evidence that supports homeopathy is anecdotal, like the "evidence" you presented. I am impressed that one friend who has MS uses homeopathy and is fine, but another friend uses allopathic treatments and is in a wheel chair. But are you seriously trying to suggest that the one friend is fine BECAUSE she uses homeopathy and that the other friend is in a wheelchair BECAUSE he doesn't? That hardly seems scientifically rigorous. What are their white cell counts? What about hepatic function? How are the mitochondria in the liver metabolizing?

I will not call you "ignorant", but I will say this - the health of the human body is frequently dependent upon an individual's psychology. That is why placebos can seem to work. But that doesn't mean that sugar pills (or herbs) actually CURE any physical ailments.

Chinese and probably others consider rhino horn (along with tiger penis) an aphrodisiac. So a partial solution is to get Jimmy Johnson and his hairdo over to china along with a couple supertankers full of extenze.

Or, since bone has too many commercial uses to be sacrificed to save life, a couple super tankers filled with ground up extenze.

Yes, there are some who will believe anything. Here is a quote from one of the comments on the dandelion tea article: "a quick search of one Louise Hay will likely help some people understand that cancer is an energy blockage in your body's chakra system...the energy blockage grows over time into something physical we have called cancer...raw organic vegetable juice and a happy disposition in life cured Mrs Hay's cancer....ie removed the blockage...I know it's not for everyone, but maybe some people like that option over messy expensive hospital trips."

This does not sound like it was written by a 'superstitious Asian' or African...... the tin-foil hat crazies live among us!

um Jim...where do you think it all started? Early inabitants all over the world learned and used certain herbs and other medicinall plants for their curative properties.

Actually, there are a few thousand rhinos in zoos and game reserves around the world. Enough to prevent extinction. However, another idea comes to mind in this case. If the poachers have enough money to buy the tranquilizer agent, the dart, and the gun with which to shoot the dart, I suggest they are not doing the poaching to feed their "starving" family.

In another post , I suggested this would be an excellent use of our Predator Drones with search and destroy capabilities.

Another idea would be to replace the tranquilizer agent with another substance that wouldn't harm the rhino but that would piss it off enough to make it charge and destroy the person that fired it. Those tranquilizer guns don't have much range. Almost makes one question if the game preserve's game wardens are the poachers.

l

No, if he were in charge of Rhino protection the problem would most likely become non-existent.

If he were in charge, there would be no more rhinos to worry about.

Unfortunately, Ted Nugent is the kind of person that couldn't give a damn about rhinos, unless it's to mount a rhino head on his wall. He's a "great white hunter" type, and Im' sure doesn't give a damn about endangered species.

As much as Ted Nutgent would like you to believe he is an honest hunter it appears he' s just a poacher too, the scurge of true hunters. It seems that every endangered species is some how tied to the IGNORANT ASIAN SOMETHING. Rino horn, Elephant ivory, Tiger bone, Shark fin, They need to stop believing in the midevel,supertitious B.S.Jezzzzz get educated!!!!I agree we need to donate to otganizations the will put some fear of death into the Poachers,any suggestions?

Honey Pot (sorry, Jo). Have you any idea what you're talking about? I thought not.

HoneyJo Most people that trash him regarding hunting don't know anything about what he actually does. He does not Trophy Hunt at all and never has, and the endangered species remark is simply an ignorant remark. He donates a lot of his own money to various wildlife management and research studies. Just because he hunts, mainly with a Bow and Arrow and has a policy of only killing animals such as Deer for the Venison. You will not find a Trophy mount such as a Bear, Tiger or anything else on his wall. By the way...a 'Trophy Hunter' kills animals that they do not intend to eat, but on the other side of the coin, most all of the time the meat is eaten by the locals...it just isn't for me and I would not do it.

scott m-438437 You are correct. If the Rhino were adequately protected there would be no Rhino to worry about. Right now the only Rhino that need not be worried about are those in Zoo's. (for the most part.)

The problem with the Rhino poaching in S. Africa is unfortunately not being resolved by the local officials. I find it hard to believe that if the S.A. government took this as serious as many others, they could find a way to protect the Rhino. Simply saying that poachers will be shot on sight will not work. There must be enough park officials to guard the vast areas. This will take people on the ground, electronic surveillance, lots of money and the local people and officials commitment.

soiuxs... Almost missed ya...read the above. :-)

P to P you sound as if you sleep in his guest bedroom, glad you love Ted so much, so why did he plead guilty to POACHING a black bear??? I never called him a trophy hunter, maybe he is. You seem to be in the know. Most of them are wealthy a holes who have nothing better to do with their time or money, and are actually proud of their COLLECTION,, Poachers, are a different breed; sneaky, dark of night,out of the truck, because they know its ILLEGAL.

You can easily answer your own question about the Black Bear you speak of if you google it and read about it. Hardly a poacher. I write outdoors articles freelance for a living...I have interviewed him and many others, that may be why I seem to be "in the know" as you say. You are right about that at least.

Didn't Teddy Nugent just plead guilty to "over hunting" black bears in Alaska? Can he not count, or could he just not resist killing ANOTHER Bear? Yes, what a great environmentalist he must be...Whatever!

Ummmmmm Rhino horns aren't even close to "Ivory"........ They're more like well-organized hairballs......... same stuff your fingernails are made of...........

And Ivory trade HAS been banned here in the U.S. for decades

And I thought ivory WAS banned in the US many years ago. That's why piano keys are no longer made of ivory...

Damn right sgalley

alright now, i have enough money to buy an expensive gun, fly to SA, and I am a natural athlete so i can basically learn anything and become good at it fast. I also am a very non-expected individual who has taken a lot of BS for the past 10 years and ready to burst!!!!! Somebody wanna come? Damn-it, I must have my unithroid meds! can anyone smuggle a boat load of 88mcg unithroid from their pharmacy-factory? or maybe people will rejoice in my successes and give it to me for free! is there a non-profit out there that will pay me under-the-table or as a gift. i can volunteer a lot for you! im just a very good soul so tired of BS.

They tried removing the horns some years ago in Zimbabwe. The poachers killed the hornless rhinos because they didn't want to waste time tracking them again someday.

Do you guys realize that the rhino's live in Africa? You know there are lion's, and ect? They need the horns to help defend themselves, the things can only run so fast. The male rhino fights other male rhino's for females during mating season. It's an interesting idea but not very practical.

Very good point, however, I doubt to many lions will attack a rhino considering it's size, toughness and attitude. They probably mainly use it against eachother for dominance fights like you said, I would guess. But still a very good point made by you.

Injecting the horns with poisons and dyes is an excellent idea. It would also confirm to the Asian markets that rhino horn IS a cure for EVERYTHING . . . once you're dead, all your medical issues are "cured"!

They will kill them anyway so they won't waste time tracking them again.

Good question. I just returned from Vietnam where I didn't see rhino horns but I did see all sorts of other creatures, many snakes, bottled and being sold as medicine. So I have been thinking about this and perhaps as eco-tourists which we were, we need to put pressure on the Vietnamese, and other governments to crack down within their own countries - stop the demand, tout viagra and other real medicine etc. since people who need real medicine are no doubt dying because of the beliefs that this crap works. We need to point out that their demand for rhino horn etc. will hurt tourism. At the same time we need to pressure our government to pressure their governments. I will be writing some letters.

Perhaps approaching or writing their embassies here will also help. And appealing to hopefully more medically enlightened Asian Americans may be another approach.

P.S. As a side note the March online magazine for Vietnam Airlines had an article promoting the captive bird trade. Several of us will be writing them as well.

Thanks Theo... I lived in South Africa... my mom is from there and brother born there and it's just tragic that we are losing all the wild places. I've travedl all over the globe and there is/was nothing like the continent of Africa. I wish we could all go and see and share in it. Thanks for the positive/ critical thinking on your comments.

It's staggering the extinction levels taking place. At least we are aware and trying to support a better world for all life. Godspeed.

Theo, Good idea and I wish you the best of luck, but remember that you are suggesting government officials interfere with private enterprise.

And what that means is that you are suggesting that government officials cut off a source of bribe money.

An action akin to suggesting our government regulate the banks so they have fewer opportunities to destroy the economy.

We can't secure our borders? Or maybe we dont want to? Nevertheless we should spend money on protecting Rhinos? Any money you send to Africa is going to go to an African Drug Lord. I care about the Rhinos too but I can't think of a solution right now. Obama is African, maybe he can talk to people. I'm being serious. I just don't see spending money for that when the country is in the shape it is. China and Nam are both still communist so good luck talking them into stop buying anything. Everything costs money so the S. African Gov't probably doesn't have the interest in helping these poor animals. So all you Obama lovers, ask the savior to talk to the leaders in these countries that is a more reasonable solution than what I've read here like "I'm heading over there with a shotgun" Yeah right, you're doing nothing!

What Would Reagan Do...Really? Every forum you are in you bitch about the same thing...go away. It's getting old.

Shoot the poachers with tranquilizer darts and then cut off - oh, maybe a leg or if they are men, a leg and their you know what. Wait until they start to come to and turn on the grinder.

I work at a large university that has many students from Asia. I think this presents a great opportunity for organizations such as World Wildlife Fund to target these kids while they're here with education about endangered species and the fact that these traditional medicines are just BS.

we are are own worse enemies and unfortuntely to every other living being on the planet.

Yes, and "the love of money is the root of all evil."

Actually I think you will find the corect quote, attributed to George Bernard Shaw, is " Lack of money is the root of all evil"

isnt greed one of the 7 deadly sins? dont get me wrong, im not religious. theres just a reason why it was made specifically a deadly sin. america is very much like what the roman empire was. we will go down, along with the rest of humanity. at least, unless we can get along and work together. but oh, there are so many fanatical religious individuals blaming their fight in battles/wars on their religious beliefs that we will just end each other. oh well, se la vie(sp?). if youre afraid of death, then you better find a solution. perhaps we will be struck by a large comet that will wipe us out. the planet would only be lucky enough, along with the universe. man, i cant stand human kind!!!!!!! dogs are much more reasonable, at least the ones not tainted by human mal-treatment. get this straight peeps, the mind is extremely powerful, especially the unconscious part; if you are more unaware of reality and really dont have common sense or a good gut. if you believe strongly enough that something will work, it will untill the problem becomes too bad to be solved.