The last rhinoceros in Mozambique was probably killed. The fault, of course, lies with the poachers, who have continued to illegally hunt these majestic animals for their horns, to be resold at a high price in Asia. According to Antonio Abacar, the director of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, the only place where the horned giants lived in Mozambique, it is they, in fact, who have effectively caused their extinction from the African country.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
It probably was killed the last rhinoceros of Mozambique. The fault, of course, lies with the poachers, who have continued to illegally hunt these majestic animals for their horns, to be resold at a high price in Asia. According to Antonio Abacar, the director of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, the only place where the giants lived in Mozambique, they are, in fact, who have them in fact, extinction from the African country was determined.
What's even sadder is that elephants may soon end up in the same way, he explained again to the Associeted Press Abacar, explaining that the authorities believe that the poachers were able to track the movements of the rhinos precisely with the help of the rangers who work in the Park. Now a total of 30 rangers, out of the 100 employees on the reserve, have been summoned to court in the coming weeks, accused of collusion with rhino deaths. One of them revealed to the local media that he had acted under payment of 2.500 meticais (about 80 dollars), a figure almost equal to his monthly salary, which ranges between 2.000 and 3.000 meticais (from 64 to 96 dollars).
While those found guilty among them are likely to lose their jobs, the courts will be a poor deterrent to poachers: the killing of wildlife and the illegal trade in rhino horn and elephant tusks. they are considered only minor offenses in Mozambique. “No specimens have been seen since January, which most likely means that those who lived inside the park are dead. Our biggest problem is that some of our workers are involved in poaching ", explained the director of the park, which covers an area of 1,1 million hectares and also covers South African Kruger Park and Gonarezhou Park in Zimbabwe.
But not everyone agrees in talking about the extinction of Mozambican rhinos: Bartolomeu Soto, director of the conservation unit of cross-border Mozambique, believes that some specimens are still there "Even if we don't know how many". The only official data available for rhino deaths is that 17 carcasses were found in the park in 2010. Meanwhile, what is certain is that the slaughter continues. The government of Mozambique has been working since 2009 on a global reform of environmental laws which would protect wildlife by imposing mandatory prison sentences on offenders. Perhaps, however, it is now too late to save the last of Mozambique's rhinos.
Roberta Ragni
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