In 2013, A Record Number of Rhinos Were Poached in South Africa
Rhinos in trouble Coralie via WikiMedia Commons A total of 1,004 rhinos were illegally killed in South Africa in 2013, according to the country's department of environmental affairs. That makes it the worst ever year for rhino poaching in the country. The death toll represents a 50 percent increase from 2012, in which 668 of the animals were killed. At this rate, rhinos in the country could go extinct in a little over two decades. The rhinos are killed for their horns, which mostly end up in Vietnam and China, where they are valued for their supposed medicinal value. Research shows that they have none, however, and that they are made up of the same material as human fingernails. Most of the animals were killed in Kruger National Park. A total of 343 alleged poachers and traffickers were arrested in 2013, an increase from...