View Full Version : Battleground: Rhino Wars
Team Sergeant
03-05-2013, 20:21
This is great, a war I can get behind! Way to go gents!!!!!!!
Battleground: Rhino Wars
The world renowned Greater Kruger area of South Africa, just north of Johannesburg, is the new ground zero in a war to protect magnificent creatures on the edge of extinction. Rhinoceroses are being hunted to death by poachers who will stop at nothing to kill them just to take their horns. The death toll is astonishing; last year alone, nearly 700 rhinos were killed with baby rhinos and calves separated from their mothers and left to fend on their own. The human toll too is steep. More than 100 park rangers have been killed by these poachers in the battle to halt these criminals. The situation is worsening. Park rangers and security forces are desperate for help. And now four U.S. Special Forces (SEALS and SF) veterans have come to help fight for the rhinos…
http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/battleground-rhino-wars
Thursday 9:00PM
mojaveman
03-05-2013, 20:35
And now four U.S. Special Forces (SEALS and SF) veterans have come to help fight for the rhinos…
I feel sorry for the poachers.
I grew tired of the whale wars and will now look forward to some new entertainment. :D
I saw a news report on it from a San Diego, CA, station - 3 ex-SEALs and 1 ex-SFer - looked like an interesting gig.
Richard :munchin
nousdefions
03-05-2013, 20:54
I was interested until I realized it wasn't about the John MCain/Lindsey Graham break up......
I was interested until I realized it wasn't about the John MCain/Lindsey Graham break up......
Which one is the baby calf?
I spent a couple days with two Tanzanian Rangers in Arusha Park in/around the Little Serengeti on a climb up Mt Meru a few years ago.
Some good fellas......one of their requirements for making it as a Tanzanian Ranger was Up/Down Meru in 24 hours.
Fit and motivated guys......not much kit and not much pay unfortunately, but it seemed like a prestigious job locally.
Around the time I was there, there was a fair bit of poaching going on.......that included poachers lighting big chunks of the park on fire to flush game.
I'd just about pay money to work some counter-poaching patrols.
There was a show on a few years back about a Royal Marine Conrad Thorpe OBE(and ex SBS) who put together an anti-poaching unit in the Congo with a "smell of an oily rag" sized budget.
Good on them for trying......I know the hunting industry that the animal lovers hate so much has done more for sustaining wildlife than any other single group.
Good "Hearts & Minds" PR.. :lifter
Guymullins
03-06-2013, 10:42
The numbers of rhino poached per year is horriffic. However, these numbers show the sucess of the rhino breeding programmes run throughout our country. There are many more rhino killed per year now that existed thirty years ago. Private game farmers are breeding rhino all over the country from the tiny seed herd that was all that was left of the White Rhino a few decades ago. Two things are hampering this re-breeding campaign. Firstly poaching is rife because the Far East has a strong appetite for rhino horn, both as an afrodisiac and a decorative substance. Secondly, and more importantly, the restrictions placed on the legal trade of rhino products and the legal hunting of rhino, has pushed up prices of these products to astronomic levels. Because hunting is being restricted, mainly because of the well-meaning influence of countries who dont have a clue about conservation, the actual worth of rhinos is devalued as far as the game farmer is concerned. Why should a farmer breed rhino he is unable to sell to a hunter and costs a fortune to protect from poachers? What is needed is more open trade in rhino products, not less. Any economist knows that restricting supply of any product will tend to increase its price, but this is something Western conservationists have great difficulty understanding. There is undue influence from countries in which you have to visit a zoo to see wildlife, on countries that are actually breeding it .
Team Sergeant
03-06-2013, 11:09
The numbers of rhino poached per year is horriffic. However, these numbers show the sucess of the rhino breeding programmes run throughout our country. There are many more rhino killed per year now that existed thirty years ago. Private game farmers are breeding rhino all over the country from the tiny seed herd that was all that was left of the White Rhino a few decades ago. Two things are hampering this re-breeding campaign. Firstly poaching is rife because the Far East has a strong appetite for rhino horn, both as an afrodisiac and a decorative substance. Secondly, and more importantly, the restrictions placed on the legal trade of rhino products and the legal hunting of rhino, has pushed up prices of these products to astronomic levels. Because hunting is being restricted, mainly because of the well-meaning influence of countries who dont have a clue about conservation, the actual worth of rhinos is devalued as far as the game farmer is concerned. Why should a farmer breed rhino he is unable to sell to a hunter and costs a fortune to protect from poachers? What is needed is more open trade in rhino products, not less. Any economist knows that restricting supply of any product will tend to increase its price, but this is something Western conservationists have great difficulty understanding. There is undue influence from countries in which you have to visit a zoo to see wildlife, on countries that are actually breeding it .
That's a two way street..... you kill enough poachers and no one is going to want to do that job.....;)
Guymullins
03-06-2013, 14:00
That's a two way street..... you kill enough poachers and no one is going to want to do that job.....;)
Dead right Team. It is very difficult to catch them though because, until they have killed a rhino, they are completely innocent and you must catch them with the horn in their possession. In thick bush at night, it is easy to ditch the evidence and turn into a tourist again. Part of the problem is that white rhino are very tame animals and not scared of man, thus are very easily poached. Black rhino on the other hand are bad tempered and dangerous, but there are very few left. Basically, you will always find someone in Africa to do the job if the fruits are so rewarding. A single rhino horn can set a family man up for life.
ddoering
03-06-2013, 15:17
That's a two way street..... you kill enough poachers and no one is going to want to do that job.....;)
I don't know. It hasn't worked with Somali pirates yet...... Maybe if they had an OSHA rep.
Stiletto11
03-06-2013, 15:49
The people who use the rhino horn never heard of Viagra.
Guymullins
03-06-2013, 16:36
The people who use the rhino horn never heard of Viagra.
It is probably used in hopeless cases Stiletto, and Viagra makes a poor dagger handle.
Stiletto11
03-06-2013, 19:43
What's wrong with wood?:D
The Reaper
03-06-2013, 19:49
Not trying to be insensitive here, but....
You are an poor African, and your family is starving.
A foreigner offers you more than a year's salary (if you could find a job) to bring him a rhino horn.
The future of the rhino is probably not a primary concern right then.
What would you do?
Is there an unqualified right or wrong answer?
I don't think the tribesman doing the poaching is necessarily the CARVER target.
I think the answer lies a little further up the food chain.
Guy, I hear what you are saying, and have heard the same thing about the ivory trade.
TR
Basenshukai
03-06-2013, 19:52
This is great, a war I can get behind! Way to go gents!!!!!!!
Battleground: Rhino Wars
The world renowned Greater Kruger area of South Africa, just north of Johannesburg, is the new ground zero in a war to protect magnificent creatures on the edge of extinction. Rhinoceroses are being hunted to death by poachers who will stop at nothing to kill them just to take their horns. The death toll is astonishing; last year alone, nearly 700 rhinos were killed with baby rhinos and calves separated from their mothers and left to fend on their own. The human toll too is steep. More than 100 park rangers have been killed by these poachers in the battle to halt these criminals. The situation is worsening. Park rangers and security forces are desperate for help. And now four U.S. Special Forces (SEALS and SF) veterans have come to help fight for the rhinos…
http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/battleground-rhino-wars
Thursday 9:00PM
George Fox - founder and owner of NFW Watches - is sponsoring these guys as well for this effort. George, some of you may recall, produced the 7th SFG watches that were on sale by Chapter 7 of the SF Association, and also did some sponsorship with the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. He is a big fan of USSOF and SF in particular.
Guymullins
03-07-2013, 02:50
An expensive trade off. Rhino horn gives you wood.
Wow is all I can say!:lifter
Just watched the segment on Fox News live, and four enourmous gentlemen on the curvy couch spoke eloquently about the Rinho Wars, and their efforts to curtail the, "Evil," of these poachers.
To the Green Beret, "Oz", Bravo Sir, we will be tuning in!:o
Thank you All for your service!
Holly
rob99vmi04
03-07-2013, 21:31
Just saw the show thought it was pretty well put together. I have the pleasure of working with "OZ" at my part time job, and I get to see him run a gun on a regular basis. The boy can shoot. I bring this up because, I thought it was funny that all the other guys were complaining about the rifles, I thought it was interesting during the shooting segments that they didn't show Oz's targets. Anyway thought the show was good. Im surprised animal planet aired Biggs reply about disarming.