South African rhino deaths on track to new record
In 2012, a record 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa. With 500 rhinos killed so far this year, and with three months to go, 2013 is on track to set a new deadly record, according to a Sky News report.
The rampant poaching has led the South African Government to dispatch military to Kruger National Park, the country's main game reserve.
Veterinarian William Fowlds, founder of Rhino Lifeline, is part of the swell of independently funded efforts to save the animal from extinction. According to Sky News, he was the first vet on the scene in 2012 after poachers attacked three rhinos on the Kariega Game Reserve.
One of the rhinos was badly mutilated and soon died. Fowlds managed to save the other two, named Thandi and Themba. Twenty-four days later, though, Themba was found drowned in a waterhole due to what were believed to be internal injuries.
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Fowlds told Sky News he performed numerous procedures on Thandi, determined not to lose the third rhino.
After less than two years, Thandi is alive and has a new mate. The story of Thandi's survival, and the other rhinos' brutal deaths, inspired a flood of donations and offers of help from hundreds of South Africans.
Now, Sky News reports, Thandi's story is being taken to Vietnam and China, two of the biggest markets for rhino horn, to highlight the devastating effects of poaching.