Zimbabwe's rhinos being wiped out as demand for Rhino horn surges

Zimbabwe's rhinos are being wiped out amid a surge in poaching driven by Chinese demand for the animals' horns, a wildlife conservation group warned today.

Around 120 rhinos have been killed since last March to feed the lucrative Chinese black market, said Johnny Rodrigues, chairman of the independent Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force.

A rhino horn can sell for thousands of pounds on the black market. Along with Chinese medicine, the horns are used for ornamental dagger handles in some Middle Eastern countries.

Rodrigues said gangs were now using a Chinese-made version of a tranquillising agent that can be fired noiselessly from a dartgun to avoid drawing attention. The gangs then chop off the horn and leave the unconscious animal for dead. "They don't reverse the tranquilliser, so the rhino overheats and dies," Rodrigues said. "Anyone who then finds it can't eat the meat – you will die if you do.

"The removal of the horn is very harsh. They use an axe and disfigure the rhino's face. The humane thing to do is put a bullet through its head and burn the carcass."