At least 704 rhinos have been killed by horn poachers in South Africa to meet the Southeast Asia demand for rhino horns, believed to be a cure for cancer.
According to the Environmental Affairs Ministry, South Africa has set another record on the number of rhinos killed by horn poachers. The new record as of September 2014 states that nearly 704 rhinos have been killed beating the 668 annual record in 2012.
Based on the current report, the ministry is projecting more than 1,000 rhinos would be slayed next year, leading to the significant decrease in the population of the wild animal and to the possible extinction in the next decade.
Reuters reported that the killings were products of the rising demand of the horns in the black market, which sells the appendage at "prices higher than gold."
The poachers were believed to have come from Mozambique, and they reportedly sell these valued horns to syndicates to meet the ever-increasing demand in Southeast Asia, where the appendage is believed to be a cure for cancer and an effective medication to tame hangovers.
"We need people to be ashamed of this. The fact that our rhinos are killed is because there is a market out there. There are people who are coming to steal our heritage," Top Biodiversity Official at the Ministry Fundisile Mketeni said.
Mketeni added that the ministry is now campaigning to cease the illegal exportation of the horns to countries including Thailand, Vietnam, and China.
Most of the slaying of these wild animals were said to take place in the flagship Kruger National Park, border of Mozambique.
"The poaching syndicates are determined to carry on with their nefarious acts, using the poverty that is prevalent in Mozambique and South Africa to recruit poachers," South African National Parks Spokesman Ike Phaahla said.
According to several reports, the demand for rhinoceros horns started to increase after a claim has been made that a Vietnamese minister's relative got cured of cancer by the horn.
Meanwhile, the Chinese believes that the appendage of the wild animal is useful in treating maladies from rheumatism and even devil possession.
Conservation groups revealed that the rhino horn is being sold at $65,000 per kilogram in the Vietnamese population.
"There is a small group who have the money for rhino horn. We need to get out scientific evidence to show the people of Vietnam that it doesn't work," Vice Chairman of the Vietnamese Parliament's Science and Environmental Committee Vo Tuan Nhan said in a seminar in Johannesburg last month.
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