Animals are all around us and zoos are one of the most popular family attractions. It was with that in mind us here at Collegetimes were shocked to discover that a zoo in Thoiry, Paris, was broken into during the night and a rhinoceros was murdered for his horn. The rhino, fondly known by zoo staff as Vince, was found with three bullet wounds to his body and his horn removed with a chainsaw. Poachers killed the rhino sometime over the course of Monday night.
The Le Parisien reports that the poachers may not have had enough time to kill other animals within the zoo.
It is the first time that such an event has occurred in a European zoo. Organised criminal gangs have been selling rhino horn and police raids have discovered rhino horn even in Ireland. Rhino horn is worth tens of thousands of euro on the black market and is now worth more than cocaine in terms of street value. The Atlantic has reported that rhino horn is popular in areas such as Vietnam were it is considered a cure for a hangover, an aphrodisiac and a cure for cancer. Cancer research and funding is exceptionally low and of poor quality which has resulted in Vietnamese people searching for alternative medicine.
The National Geographic magazine reported that the illegal rhino horn trade is responsible for decimating the world’s rhino population by more than 90 percent over the past 40 years. Scientists have proven that rhino horn is as useful as chewing your nails. The material of the rhino horn is agglutinated hair - the same material found in human hair.
It is worrying to think that a zoo, a predominantly safe space for endangered animals, can be infiltrated in such a way. Already several types of rhino have become extinct with the West African black rhino being the most recent. How do we debunk these claims about rhino horn and reduce the devastating losses to the population?
Poor Vince.
Advertisement
Add us on Snapchat: @collegetimesct
