Affluent Mothers Why do affluent Asian mothers also use rhino horn? They are probably the wives of the wealthy businessmen who use rhino horn and they often use it as 'insurance' in case their child gets sick. Believe that rhino horn can help children be healthy and strong; and regain strength in times of weakness/illness Believe in fever-reducing qualities of rhino horn - in line with original use in Chinese/Vietnamese medicine and keep small quantities at home in case child gets a high fever Small individual quantities are given, but group size is large, therefore demand will continue to grow with economic growth Terminally Ill or Seriously Ill Patients and Their Family A recent popular belief in Viet Nam seemingly [...]

Less than 2 years ago we were losing 1 rhino every 24 hours to poachers in South Africa. At the beginning of 2013 it was 1 rhino every 11 hours and, in a matter of months, it’s now standing at 1 rhino every 9 hours. Want more information on rhino poaching? To see the tragic reality of what is happening to the rhino check out the website Stop Rhino Poaching (link below), but a warning: some of the images are distressing. http://www.stoprhinopoaching.com/ The exponential growth of the killing spree is due to the rapid rise in wealth in Asia and currently the main culprit causing the demise of the rhino are businessmen in Viet Nam. Since 2003 Vietnam has rapidly [...]

In an attempt to prevent poaching, game reserves are now injecting poison into the rhinos' horns to scare off consumer demand. Currently, this strategy is not well known in Viet Nam and it would be helpful if there was more public awareness the risk of ingesting poisoned rhino horn. Because rhino horn consumption is associated with health/strength by all primary user groups, they will concerned about poisoned rhino horn entering the supply chain. The users of rhino horn need to be made aware of the rhino horn poisoning strategy, particularly given that the toxins used included organophosphates. If the users ingest these toxins they become very sick with nausea and diarrhoea. These toxins can also have long-term effects on the [...]