White rhino dies at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

There are only four northern white rhinos believed to be left in the world and one of these died at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It was Nola, a 41-year-old female - it has been at the park since 1989 and was euthanized after her health took a turn for the worse.
This has been reported in nzherald.co.nz dated 23 November 2015.

The geriatric rhino had arthritis and other ailments and was being treated for a bacterial infection that was linked to an abscess in her hip.
It seems she underwent surgery to drain the abscess but her health began to deteriorate, she lost her appetite and turned listless. As her condition worsened, the vets decided to euthanize her.
Nola was an iconic animal, not only at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, but all over the world. The remaining three northern white rhinos, all elderly, are in a closely guarded preserve in Kenya. The subspecies has been decimated by poachers, who kill the rhinos for their horns. The horns are in high demand in parts of Asia where some people claim they have medicinal properties for treating everything from hangovers to cancer.
In order to preserve the species, the San Diego zoo has taken possession of six female southern white rhinos from South Africa and are working on developing northern white rhino embryos to be implanted in the six new arrivals. These would serve as surrogate mothers and, if successful, white rhino calf could be born within 10 to 15 years.

(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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Raids in north Bengal yield elephant tusks and rhino horns worth lakhs

The forest department and police have recovered elephant tusks and rhino horns worth lakhs of rupees after carrying out raids in various parts of north Bengal. Five members of the gang involved in smuggling animal parts have also been apprehended and the police and forest officers are interrogating them to trace the kingpin and also discover leads to poachers.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 11 November 2015.

As revealed by Divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri, of the 6-Kg tusks recovered, only three-and-a-half kgs were found to be original while the rest was fake. It will also have to be checked whether the rhino horn is original. Two persons were arrested red-handed while they were trying to sell the tusks in a market near Malbazar. Subsequent interrogation is on to find out the involvement of others.
The forests in north Bengal have witnessed a sudden spike in rhino deaths in the last couple of years and most of these were attributed to poaching.

(Image source wikimediacommons.org)

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