In the News–A Spiritual Perspective July 25, 2011 Issue

For the preservation of the world’s animals

By Colleen Douglass

Poaching is never far from the lips of Southern Africa’s rangers and guides. Hunters illegally target the “Big Five” animals: African elephant, African rhinoceros, leopard, lion, and Cape buffalo. Hunters coined the term “Big Five” to identify the most dangerous animals to stalk and kill on foot. 

Indiscriminate hunters drive herds to the point of extinction either for sport or profit. To illustrate the magnitude of the problem, last year, rhino horns traded for $1,610 per ounce—more than the cost of gold. The high price attracts those looking for fast money by selling horns in the Middle East for coming-of-age ornaments, and in China for traditional medicine. 

Sometimes such sales are used to prop up oppressive regimes. For instance, media from countries adjoining Zimbabwe have long suspected that President Robert Mugabe’s administration uses funds from elephant tusks to prop up its government and finance its conflicts. 