Rhino lovers issue ultimatum ahead of poaching hearings
Pressure on the government to stem the slaughter of rhinos is mounting in the run-up to public hearings on poaching that will be hosted in Parliament later this month.
With fatalities rising to an all-time high of at least 443 last year and reports that eight rhino carcasses were found with their horns removed in the Kruger National Park this week, angry electronic petitions have gone viral.
A global Rhino Ultimatum, which has drawn more than 11 500 signatures in the past few weeks, threatens agricultural and tourism boycotts if the government does not meet demands to "halt the imminent extinction of the rhino species". The campaign was organised by the International Animal Rescue Foundation, a global justice network, with input from local anti-cruelty groups. It says that by November last year two rhino sub-species -- the Western African black rhinoceros and the northern white rhinoceros -- were declared extinct by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The Javan rhinoceros of Southeast Asia may also be extinct.
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-01-13-rhino-lovers-issue-ultimatum