Poachers prevail

摘要

Last year 438 rhinos, nearly all of them of the white (meaning wide-lipped) species, were known to have been illegally killed in South Africa, their horns often hacked off while they were still alive. That compares with an annual average of just 15 before 2008. This year more than 200 have already been poached, an average of 50 a month, with the year's final tally expected to top 600. If that trend continues, more rhinos will be being poached than born by 2016, sending the world's population into a decline that could be irreversible. Around 20,000 of the surviving white rhinos on earth live in South Africa.