Special Investigation
Sustainability 'Endangered Species' the Rhinocerous by Seb P and Rebecca P
by Year 6 (6)

At Risk by Seb P Rhinoceros The rhinoceros is an endangered species. In 1970 there were 20,000 black rhinos in Kenya alone. Now only 430 have survived. The reason is because illegal poachers brutally slaughter them for their precious ivory. Many breeding programmes have been set up, one of which is by the World Wildlife Federation. However if we want to help we need to set up more programmes. Poisoning kills many rhinos. Eating green maize cobs, which have been treated with deadly pesticide, has killed many rhinos. Although it is illegal to hunt rhinos, poachers are willing to risk the penalties. A poacher can make more money on a single horn that he can make on a farm in a year. In the Far East, powdered rhino horn is used as a medicine. It is believed to cure all sorts of ailments such as coughs, fever, boils, pain of childbirth etc. Many people think that this happening is very wrong. If we wanted to get the numbers up than we would need to put a stop to illegal poaching. By Rebecca