(Image Source: Times Live)

BY EMOKE BEBIAK

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

The number of rhinos killed for their horns in South Africa has reached a record number this year according to a new report. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says 341 rhinos have been poached in 2011 in South Africa alone. That is huge jump compared to the average of 36 rhinos killed annually before 2005. The BBC explains the main reason for the rise...

“[T]he spike in poaching in Africa and South Asia is largely caused by increased demand for rhino horn in Vietnamese traditional medicine. Poachers saw off a darted rhino's horn, leaving the animal to bleed to death.”

The new numbers about rhino hunting in South Africa come shortly after WWF announced Vietnam’s Javan rhinos are officially extinct. According to the South African IOL News, Vietnam and South Africa already work together to stop poachers. A WWF official tells the paper...

“In order to save rhinos from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good.”

According to the BBC, the price of rhino horn now tops that of gold, which has led to more aggressive poaching.

In a video produced by WWF, the director of the fund’s African Rhino Program explains the hardships rangers face.

“We are seeing poachers being former soldiers who are trained in actual combat, and this is not a skill normally imparted upon rangers in the ordinary conservation circumstances. So the challenges they are faced is very high.”

A law enforcement official explains the South African Business Day what punishment poaching can lead to.

“The most severe sentence imposed was a nine-year prison term, without the option of a fine, for the illegal hunting of a rhino in a national park and illegal firearm possession.”

Voice of America adds there’s reason for hope with the country taking definitive steps to stop poaching...

“Last month, the South African government called poaching a ‘scourge’ that is decimating the rhino population. The government unveiled a program that uses DNA technology to track rhinos and their parts in order to help convict poachers.”

BBC also adds, South Africa is home to 90 percent of the world’s rhino population with almost 2,000 black and 19,000 white rhinos.