Jonathunder – Own work
Male Diceros bicornis (Black rhinoceros or Hook-lipped rhinoceros) at the Saint Louis Zoological Park in Missouri
Johannesburg- Poachers are taking 30,000 elephants and 821 Rhinos a year. Johannesburg residents are now adding their voices in the fight to stop poachers.
On October 4th, 2014 hundreds of residents from Johannesburg and 133 other cities around the world marched against poaching. The march is part of an anti-poaching initiative to end the poaching of elephants and rhinos
In a report by Eyewitness News- South Africa (EWN.Mobi), all ages marched in demonstrations to send a clear message to poachers.
In an interview with Alison Thompson, from Outrage South Africa Citizens Against Poaching, she states, “both elephants and rhinos are being poached at alarmingly high rates.” It is learned that an average 30,000 elephants a year are poached- about one every fifteen minutes. South Africa stats on rhinos are at 821 this year alone- that is one every 9 to 11 hours.
Alison adds, “South Africa in particular needs to toughen its stance on the scourge of poaching.”
In Pretoria, Environmental Affairs Minister, Edina Molewa led the march for Pretoria. Reports say the minister, “emphasized the need for South Africans to work together but also indicating that government stands ready to ensure that we stamp out all corrupt elements within the system of permitting.”
World Animal Day was the day chosen to lead the marches in order to raise awareness of animal welfare to Parliament.
Laura Germishuys, organizer of World Animal Day says,” The point of the day is basically to raise awareness of the suffering of animals. Many people are very aware of how much animals suffer especially in South Africa. We’d also like to hand over a memorandum to representatives of the UN to ask them to recognize that animals are sentient.”
“Over 40 countries have already accepted the Universal Declaration of Animal Welfare and South Africa hasn’t.”
