Pregnant rhino killed in 2nd attack 
February 14, 2012 News24
Cape Town - A 4-year-old rhino bull has been left
traumatised after its mother and sister were killed by poachers in Limpopo
earlier this month.
The cow, which was due to give birth this week, survived a shooting attack two
years ago, Ian Otto, the manager of Thiergarten farm near Tzaneen in Limpopo,
told News24 on Tuesday. A case has been opened at Letsitele police station,
after the shooting on February 9.
Otto said: “We noticed that the animals had not been dead for more than an hour
so we took off after them [the poachers]. With help from two helicopters and a
group of local farmers, they [the poachers] still managed to slip away. “When we
got back to the crime scene, we found that they first shot the 2-year-old calf
and when she went down, the mother stood over her, [the poachers shot] the
mother as well,” Otto said.
Traumatised
This same rhino cow’s mother was shot dead by poachers in 2010. The
4-year-old bull is the only surviving member of the entire family.
Otto said that the rhino bull, which has not been wounded, had been so
traumatised by the loss of his mother and sister that his behaviour is
completely abnormal. “We’ve got a big ranch and he just walks from boundary to
boundary. You hear him squealing and grunting.
“He approaches the other rhino and puts his face into them, turns around and
walks away and just constantly calls [to them]. “You can see from his behaviour
that he’s not himself, that it’s just not normal what he’s doing.” The
traumatised behaviour of the bull mirrored that of another calf whose mother had
been shot in December. The calf had apparently lain down next to its mother’s
carcass “for a couple of days before lions chased it away”.
Some good news
Otto said that calf eventually found another rhino with which it bonded. If they
don’t, “they stress themselves to death”.
He said based on the information he had received about the last shootings, the
poachers were professional hunters.
Otto said he was pleased with the reward system offered by Limpopo police for
information on poachers, saying that this might encourage people to help stop
poaching as opposed to helping poachers.
In 2011, 448 rhino were poached. Fifty-four rhino have already been poached in
2012 in South Africa - just 45 days into the year.
Comment: Poaching is out of control. Endangered species, tigers, elephants, no matter the species, are all in jeopardy. So long as there's a market, the blood will continue to flow.
Bears pay ultimate price of human action while man most dangerous of all; letters; 'trophy' victims
African Wildlife Foundation protecting Africa's most threatened species
Until the day comes when the senseless killing ends, we will all have to fight like wildlife warriors to protect our precious planet. — Terri Irwin
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