Black Rhino is one of the Most Endangered Animals in Africa
A local man has pleaded guilty to unlawfully selling shavings from the horn of a black rhinoceros, one of Africas most endangered species. The shavings were sold for purported "medicinal" use at a shop known as Far East Trading, located in Portland, Oregon. The sale was a violation of the Endangered Species Act.
Morteza Aleali, the owner of Far East Trading, pleaded guilty today in federal court before The Honorable James A. Redden. Sentencing is scheduled for September 4, 2007. A misdemeanor violation of the Endangered Species Act carries a sentence of up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000. The defendant was released pending sentencing.
The identification of black rhinoceros shavings resulted from genetics laboratory analysis at the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon. The sample was the first instance in which a product offered as rhino horn did in fact contain shavings from a black rhino. All previously sampled medicinal products claiming to contain black rhinoceros instead contained substitutes such as bone from more common species.
The black rhinoceros was listed as an endangered species in 1980 to help African nations preserve rapidly dwindling herds. The listing brought worldwide attention to the strange market that has long put a price on the heads of the few remaining black rhinos. The black rhino has two horns on its snout, a large one far forward, and a smaller one directly behind. The horns bring high prices in parts of the world including South East Asia. The horns which are conically-shaped clusters of grown-together fibers, contain no bones, nor-- according to the scientists-- any medicinal value for humans.
The black rhinoceros lives in Africa in a variety of habitats from the dense rainforests to the dry scrublands. Once numerous in eastern and southern Africa, the animals are now only found in national parks and game reserves. The black rhino stands more than 51/2 feet tall and weighs up to 4,000 pounds. Its front horn can range from 18 inches to 4 feet.
Before 1900, millions of black rhinos occurred throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, but between 1970 and 1992, rhino populations declined 96%. Black rhinos went extinct in many range states, and by 1992, only 2,300 individuals survived in seven countries. Since then, intense law enforcement efforts have helped the population to recover to approximately 3,100 individuals.
In Africa, rhino recovery efforts have concentrated on law enforcement and intensive management to maximize the survival and reproductive output of rhino populations. Range states and cooperating partners are expanding use of rhino metapopulation management, meaning that the members of a given rhino subspecies found in a given country are managed as a single herd. This approach requires intensive monitoring (based on ear notching and individual recognition) in the wild to better assess survival and reproductive rates. When rhino population growth falls below certain targets or when herd size expands beyond a certain threshold (usually thought to be at 75% of ecological carrying capacity); management actions, such as translocating rhinos back to currently unoccupied but historic range, are implemented.
In 1994, the U.S. Congress established the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Fund. Funding is allocated between the different species of rhino and tiger, thereby allowing the highly imperiled two African and three Asian rhinoceros species to receive support for critical conservation efforts. The Fund supports rhinoceros and tiger conservation projects that strengthen law enforcement, acquire information needed for management through population surveys and monitoring, develop local support for conservation through environmental education, strengthen habitat and nature reserve management, and promote sustainable development to remove human pressure on these species? habitats.
Illegal harvesting and trafficking remain significant worldwide threats to fish and wildlife populations and to the planets biodiversity.
The investigation was conducted by Special Agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 National Fish Hatcheries, 64 Fishery Resources Offices and 81 Ecological Services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
