Rhinos and Things

http://www.rhinoconservation.org/2012/05/04/almost-all-of-the-worlds-javan-rhinos-documented-in-one-video/

This page has a really beautiful video. Also, a very sad one.

Coincidentally, it's the same video.

So basically, someone's managed to compile footage of about 3/4 of the world'd Javan rhino population. Pretty cool, right?

Yes. And no.

Yes, because these are animals that are almost never seen - even park rangers are lucky if they lay their eyes upon one of these elusive creatures.

No, because the video only has 30 rhinos in it. There were more people than that in my school's last graduating class (our entire school has less than 500 people). If you do the math, that leaves only about 10-15 rhinos off the tape. Sad? Most definitely. And the truth is, that's probably how it's going to stay.

The rhino world has had a rather tumultuous year. While they've enjoyed the successful birth of Andantu, a Sumatran Rhino, they've also had to deal with some of the worst poaching rates in the last few decades.

Barely half way through the year, and the number of dead rhinos in South Africa alone was NINETEEN TIMES the number from 2007.

Slacking off? I think yes. If you can have one year where only 13 rhinos are killed, then isn't there pressure to keep the numbers down? I would think so.

To digress, Nepal has actually felt this pressure internationally. And it's done a wonderfully beautiful job. Even if they can't quite fix that Royal family of theirs, they can boast that not a single one of their rhinos was killed last year. How AMAZING is that? I applaud them, admire them. Finally, someone is doing something right. Perhaps South Africa can take a hint or two from them.

But, back on track. Javan rhinos.

We really need to keep up with 'em. We're like, this close (imagine me holding two fingers together) to losing them like we've already lost so many other species. In fact, we've already lost one of the subspecies. Brilliant, right? The Vietnamese subspecies of the Javan rhino (I've always wondered about the logistics of that, giving that I know my geography....) was officially declared extinct some time late last year. Scientists were even so fortunate as to find the remains of the poor dear, who'd, naturally, been killed for her horn.

Which brings me to the last of my rather disorganized and drifting points. Why is the demand increasing? We've got a bazillion different conservation agencies working around the clock to educate people, to patrol, to curb the trade. However, the statistics don't show it - not one bit. We've got all sorts of big numbers showing growing interest (and more murder), and they're only getting bigger.

And while some speculator might think this is absolutely brilliant for the stock market, I might have to disagree. Get your heads out of the dark recesses of the holes you've buried them into and smell the burning corpses/confiscated rhino horn. IT'S NOT RIGHT. It's not medicine; it's not gonna increase your libido and it certainly isn't going to cure cancer.

Go donate your money to a cancer research institute. Don't spend it killing those who can't save themselves.

India Rushes Into Action

See what I did there? I know, I know, good joke. India...taking action...quickly... hahahaha!

But seriously. Really guys, it'd be great if you didn't take your time EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. something happens.

On another note, I have to say I'm ashamed to be human half the time. This is one of those times.

So, picture a poor leopard, starving (since people are killing all his food sources...oh, you know, because SAMBAR are now a threatened species...), is wandering around hoping to find something to eat. Stumbles into a village, probably in his habitat, and finds some dudes. I assume they try to do something to him, since the dudes attack said leopard. He returns the favor, injures the dudes, and runs away, thinking that wasn't the best place to be.

So, said dudes run back to their village to whine about their boo-boos, and the entire village decides to hunt down the leopard. Mhm, you heard me right. Fourty villagers decide to hunt the leopard down, armed with a bunch of clubs, instead of calling someone who can tranquilize and relocate aforementioned poor starving leopard.

And they find him (of course they find him, the poor leopard can't travel that fast ya know) and what do they decide to do? No, not scare it off or something more humane. No, they decide to BEAT HIM TO DEATH.

WHAT THE??? I'm not one to swear (no really), but it seems rather apt in this situation. Who's the vicious animal this time? Not the poor starving leopard, I can assure you. It just makes me so mad. Why do this? I thought we disowned the practice of stoning several centuries ago? We live in the age of technology. That means, I don't know, there are better ways to take care of those darn pesky endangered species. Ya know, other than beating them to death. Ughh. People.

We speak of education being an issue. I guarantee that half that angry mob had handphones (they're part of the 4% that lives with handphones but without running water). The information is there, people just don't want to acknowledge it, to use it. It's not to their advantage, it gives them too much responsibility. Wisdom is a heavy burden I guess.

Maybe the best part of it all is the fact that Indian Wildlife Department is "running an investigation" on the whole thing. Leopards are a fully protected species by law, so shouldn't the forty people in the angry mob be convicted?

Oh sorry, laws are selective where they come from. We can choose when they're applied.

PS This is one situation of 356 reported leopard killings in India in the last year. Meaning about 1500 leopards actually died last year.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Screw giving people the benefit of the doubt. Nine out of ten times the person is guilty of what they are accused!

(Note: this is an observation, not a statistic. Also, in political circumstances it more like five to five because half the time they're just trying to get rid of the opposition.)

We were walking through Bangkok airport and at the baggage claim the tv has a slide with a slow loris saying 'Stop Wildlife Trafficking' or something along those lines. And it made me think. (No seriously, I do that.)

I mean, how often do you think someone who traffics wildlife actually gets caught? Looking around, even in the middle of the night, I could see several people who looked suspicious. Of course, you can't just go all Homeland Security on them without warrant in a foreign country. So that day, through that airport, I bet hundreds of animals were tortured in bags everywhere.

And I mean, they threaten you, they really do. 'You will be caught.' 'Fines of up to -insert number here-!' 'Jail time.' Yeah right. They made a big deal out of it when Wong served 6 months. That's it! Of course I wonder why after all these years and all this awareness, we still can't control the Illegal Wildlife Trade. But then I remember we can't even get our economies or governments in order because we're all so in love with buying cheap low quality goods of China and these ghostly investors who have priority over everyone else.

After that, I just think about how screwed all the normal people and animals are.