South Africa Joins Forces with Vietnam to Combat Rhino Poaching

White rhinos

The nations of South Africa and Vietnam are said to team up together to combat the illegal poaching of rhinos and trade in their horns. While South Africa has the largest populations of rhinos thanks to conservation programs, Vietnam has been a gateway for South Africa's rhinos. Poaching of rhinos has increased between 2006 and 2009 resulting to a loss of nearly 500 animals. In addition to that, Vietnam has been blamed for the trade in rhino horns due to absence of proper registry and tracking methods. But now, a recent collaboration of law enforcement efforts by the two nations are hoped to bring some relief to the conservation crisis. Furthermore, it will receive financial support from WWF-Germany, WWF African Rhino Program, and even the U.S government who made a commitment to support the initiative at a CITES meeting to be held in March.

I'm very impressed to see that South Africa has now gone international and forming a foreign alliance in a battle against rhino poaching. It appears that both South Africa and Vietnam have found a connection between them regarding this ongoing environmental crisis. That is, the rhinos are killed in South Africa and their horns are illegally smuggled overseas into Vietnam where they fetch huge prices in the black market. I'm also impressed to see that the U.S government will plan to provide financial aid to this collaboration, as well as WWF (World Wildlife Fund) programs. This goes to show how South Africa has taken yet another step forward in combating rhino poaching after forming a local task force.

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