Karson Spangler, San Fransisco, CA
Of all the threats facing black rhinos, poaching is the deadliest. Black rhinos have two horns which make them lucrative targets for the illegal trade in rhino horn A wave of poaching for rhino horn rippled through Kenya and Tanzania, continued south through Zambia's Luangwa Valley as far as the Zambezi River, and spread into Zimbabwe. Political instability and wars have greatly hampered rhino conservation work in Africa, notably in Angola, Rwanda, Somalia, and Sudan. This situation has exacerbated threats such as trade in rhino horn and increased poaching due to poverty.
This summer I traveled to South Africa for a trip, and I learned about the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, where they grow black rhino numbers by creating new populations and provides equipment and training to rangers to monitor, manage, and protect rhinos.
Their progress has been monumental as the speaker announced that 87 calves were born on the project sites and 178 black rhinos have been relocated safely, to avoid poaching.
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