POISON APHRODISIAC

The biggest news this Sunday is that a man in South Africa has decided to poison the horns of the rhinos that he is responsible for so that poachers will think twice about killing them for their alleged horny aphrodisiac properties.  The poaching of animals is fairly routine in this area, mainly due to two factors: poverty and greed.

When I was attending Animal College  - with lofty ideas of being able to protect other furry/woolly sentient beings with one wave of a certificate - the theory was being put about that it would be a good thing to breed endangered white rhinoceroses in South Africa and up their numbers so that hunters would pay to shoot them.  Very imaginative.  It would kill two birds with one stone, as it were: get a breed of animal off the endangered register and make money from the people who enjoyed killing.  I could never get it off my mind that this was somehow bizarre, like the argument in Britain that certain breeds of cows, sheep and pigs which would otherwise be extinct could be bred for meat, thereby keeping the gene pool alive.  I suppose it would be fair enough if they were tastier than other breeds, otherwise: what is the point?  I find it quite distasteful, and representative of the usual arrogance of the human race: "Look, these animals wouldn't be alive if it weren't for us, aren't we benevolent and clever?"

There is also the argument that it is only the good-looking, fluffy breeds of animal that people are interested in saving.  This is an observable truth: look at the many campaigns for saving tigers.  The biggest argument against global warming for a large part of the population is that polar bears will have nowhere to live. They will have to rock backwards and forwards in zoos, their furry coats going ever-so-slightly yellow.  Imagine the cost of the giant freezers if they had to live in safari parks...  If ever the Great White Shark dwindles in numbers I cannot imagine anyone ever donating to a whip-round, except possibly dispossessed Bond villains who would like to rehome one in their private mansion.

In conclusion, the latest information from South Africa is that to avoid rhinos being hunted by poachers or tourists with wallets full of cash and guns bulging with bullets is that their horns will be poisoned in the hope that belief in their mythical aphrodisiac properties will wane.

So education isn't working then.