ELEPHANT IVORY and RHINO HORN

[jaycee]

Watched W-5 program on TV last night, very interesting and disgusting about the amount of poaching of both Elephants and Rhino's just for the ivory and the horns.
The price of ivory in China is $ 5,000.00 per lb. that the new rich Chinese are paying , just to show off their newly found wealth.
Rhino Horn in Vietnam [Hanoi] is priced higher than gold per ounce , they were saying on the program that Hanoi is rhino horn central for the Asian market. [as an aphrodisiac and for many doubtful medicinal uses.]
As I said it was very interesting yet absolutely disgusting the amount of poaching there in the last number of years, and to top it all off , the carcasses of the shot animals are just left to rot when they could feed hundreds if not thousands of people.
It was said also that the game ranchers are exceedingly upset, because they say when there are no animals , the tourist both hunters ,and photographers do not come, when they do not come there is no work for the natives and no money for them . Hunting still brings in a lot of money that is put into the economy, but without the animals the economy of the country goes down hill.

[patvetzal]

I get upset when law enforcement seizes hundreds of pounds of tusk and then burns it to keep it off the market. Like our Canadian police melting down their old guns for the same reason. The money wasted would pay for a lot more law providers....

[KMG Canada]

Jaycee, we are in a constant battle with the poachers. A friend of mine lost his rhino to poachers using a helicopter at night! The hunters dollars are the only thinking keeping the poachers at bay. The governments just don't have the money to combat them considering the social situation in most African countries, therefore it is left mostly up to the landowners outside the parks to fend for themselves.

Patvetzal, all i can say is publicity stunt. Sell it and it will fund future anti poaching endeavors as well as combat the enthusiasm for poaching and its stiff penalties if there were a legal way to obtain ivory.

[SongDog]

After seeing that video of the rhino that had his horn hacked off while still alive and left for dead as it was blind and bloody mess.

I hope they shoot every poacher they find, hang em in the trees for the vultures to clean up.

[Killarnehunter]

It makes me sick to my stomach