National Geographic: The Rhino War Page #2

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or iambia.

The discovery of the new

threat to the rhino

was made by Kenyan-based

geographer Esmond

Bradley Martin.

I first came to North Yemem

in 1978 when

I was doing a general

sort of survey of the country

and discovered at that time

that perhaps 50% of all the

rhino horn in the world was

coming up here so Sanaa

for the making of

dagger handles.

The rhino horn handle,

once reserved for the

aristocracy,

is treasured far above

alternatives like cow or

water buffalo.

A fine antique may sell for

$15,000.

When polished, the horn takes

on an amber opalescence

greatly admired for

its subtle beauty.

Esmond Bradley Martin began an

international camping to stop

the rhino horn trade,

encouraging the use of

substitutes.

After some 10 years,

his work is showing signs of

success.

International trade has slowed

in many eastern countries,

and since 1985,

the North Yemeni government

has been enforcing a

ban on importation.

But it's not early enough.

Where there is profit,

men will trade.

The middleman, by transporting

the horn from the smuggler to

the dealer, keeps business

going briskly.

I will buy for about

$700 per kilo, and sell

for about $1400 per kilogram,

so I make a profit of

about $700.

The diplomats who smuggle

rhino horn come mostly from

Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan,

South Korea.

I saw rhino in Nairobi.

I like it. I like rhino.

Despite the rhino's size

and fierce reputation,

it is sadly easy to track,

find, and kill.

Its thick hide offers

no protection against

bullets and its behavior

patterns are too predictable

to elude the

determined poacher.

In its simple daily routine,

the black rhino uses

its prehensile

lip to tear off the leaves of

the prickly acacia bushes

and other scrubby plants.

A solitary creature,

it lives on a home range

of from one to

twelve square miles.

The rhino's territory may

overlap with another of

its species,

but it is persistent

in marking its range.

The animals spray urine or

track their dung across the

area, and so, spread their scent

Contrary to appearances,

the rhinoceros is a

peaceful being,

and only rarely takes

exception to the

occasional trespasser.

Although it can hear and

smell acutely

its eyesight is poor.

Help comes in the form of the oxpecker

which serves as a

lookout.

In Swahili the oxpecker is known

as "askair wakifaru",

the rhino's policeman.

When alerted by its tiny bodyguard,

the rhino may panic and run.

But since it is both curious

and nearsighted,

it may be enticed from the

bush, sometimes fatally,

by the human voice mimicking

its call.

The first man to devote

his life to the study of

rhino behavior was

John Goddard.

While living in Tanzania's

Ngorongoro crater during the

affection for his lumbering,

primitive subjects.

Goddard was deeply committed

to his work,

regardless of the hazards.

Even a tranquilized rhino

can be dangerous.

Weighing up to one and a half

tons, an adult bull represents

a serious threat.

Dentine joined in

P2 between cusps.

Watch it!

Alright, P3 dentine almost

joined between cusps.

For seven years, Goddard

carried out exhaustive field

work, recording each minute

feature of the rhino's

appearance and behavior.

Sixteen years after Goddard's

own death at the age of 35,

the number of rhino

in his research area

had plummeted from 108 to

about 20.

Many were the victims of

poachers.

In the vast expanse of

East Africa's Savannah,

protection of the rhino

has proved impossible.

Bob Oguya, warden of Kenya's

Meru Park since 1983,

has one plane and 30 men

to patrol 350 square miles.

The problem we are facing is

that these fellows with

their automatics,

and our people with singly

action 303s it is watch them

and in most cases we lost them,

because with their type of

firearm and with our types of

firearms they end up escaping

our dragnet.

The rangers are at

serious personal risk from

the armed poachers.

Their camel patrols stay out

for weeks at a time,

in touch only by radio with

park headquarters.

Despite the men's vulnerability

and outdated equipment,

they are dedicated and loyal-even

in the face of tragedy.

In December we lost our

sergeant to the

poacher's bullets.

We saw him die.

Without adequate weapons

we were helpless.

Too many of our men have fallen

because we could not

defend ourselves.

If we had automatics instead

of 303s we wouldn't be losing

our people.

With the rhino population at

such critical levels

throughout Africa,

every animal is important.

In Kenya's Masia Mara Reserve,

rangers mounted round the clock

protection for this mother

and calf,

shooting several lions who

came too close.

Worried, the rangers moved the

family to safer ground.

The calf was better protected,

but his mother kept trying to

get back to her old territory,

leaving her baby open to

attack.

The lions seized their chance.

After the incident,

the rangers turned

to Daphne Sheldrick,

who raises wounded and

orphaned animals

On one of the occasions that

she was away the lions got in

and they caught him and

actually made a real mess

of him.

Fortunately, they were young

lions and they weren't

very experienced.

But they certainly chewed

him up very,

very badly and he was dumped

on my doorstep more

dead than alive.

I must say he's fantastically

plucky little rhino.

In fact, his mother's a

very placid, dozy old cow

so I expect this had made him

have to be slightly more alert

The first thing we had to do,

of course was get a friend,

because he'd been through

tremendous trauma,

so we got the sheep.

They've been good friends ever

since and wherever Sam goes,

so the sheep follows and

they play together and

wander around together

and he'll just grow up here

until he's weaned off milk,

and then we'll have to send

him somewhere to be a

wild rhino.

Little Sam was lucky.

These rangers saved his life.

Other rhinos have been

less fortunate,

poached by the very men paid

to protect them.

The shadow of corruption has

fallen across much of Africa,

and Kenya has had her share

of officials

who have cashed in on

illegal rhino horn trade.

It became so bad during the

late 1970s

that a major international

scandal, Centering on the

president's wife, erupted and

as a result of that,

The Kenyan government

was so severely embarrassed

that it closed trade

in all wildlife products,

and that did have

a very needed effect

on the revival of certain species.

But the two species which

showed no revival whatsoever

were the main trophy species,

elephants and rhino,

and by the early 1980s,

it became clear once again

that major elements within the

Wildlife Department

ex-Game Department people,

that is Perez Olindo,

who was the former director

of the National Park Service,

and this has created a

tremendous enthusiasm

throughout Kenya, and we feel

that this is just in

time to revive

what is our most important

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