Monday, August 20, 2012

23 Reasons Animal Lovers Should Boycott China - Reason #14: China Is Pushing Endangered Rhino to Extinction


A superstitious Chinese belief that rhino horn has curative powers is pushing this critically endangered species to extinction

[When I started this blog in 2008, my first post was about a dog who was chained inside a gallery and starved as part of an "artwork." Since then, animal welfare has remained a primary theme on 13.7 Billion Years. Over the years, I have learned about countless stories of animal cruelty here in the United States and across the world. But one country has shown the most blatant and widespread disregard for the lives and well-being of non-human animals: China. As Mahatma Gandhi wisely observed, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated." If China is to become a great nation, it has a lot of work to do. One way concerned people can help put pressure on China to change is to stop buying Chinese goods. More than 2.3 million people worldwide have signed the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, and the number of animal lovers around the globe is much greater. Imagine if all of them stopped purchasing Chinese products. So, every weekday for the month of August, I'll give animal lovers one reason to boycott China—23 reasons in all. It will not be an easy month to digest all the horrific stories and cruel practices. But I have placed great value in a quote by the late philosopher Albert Schweitzer: "Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." This month, I'll be doing that, and I hope you will too. -- Reynard Loki]

According to the World Wildlife Fund, only about 3,100 black rhinos in Africa and only some 2,800 of all three species in Asia (Sumatran, Javan, and Indian). The Javan rhino subspecies in Vietnam was declared extinct on October 25, 2011.

A major cause of their decline is the continued demand for their horns to supply traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which believes it has the power to treat fever, convulsions, and delirium—though there is no scientific evidence to back up any medicinal claims.

Encyclopedia Britannica notes that rhino horn's popularity in China to treat these ills "has been a major factor in the reduction of the rhinoceros population in Africa and Asia."

In China, where it also used to produce good luck charms, rhino horn sells on the black market for over USD 60,000 per kilogram, according to a 2010 estimate by TRAFFIC.

"The rhino is being hunted into extinction and could disappear forever unless we act now. Shocking new statistics show 440 rhinos were brutally killed last year in South Africa alone—a massive increase on five years ago when just 13 had their horns hacked off," according to Avaaz.org.

ACTION ALERTS
  • Join over 785,000 people who have signed an Avaaz petition urging EU leaders to push CITES to suspend trade in all rhino products
  • Join Stella McCartney and sign the PETA pledge to be leather-free
  • Sign a Born Free Foundation petition to increase the protection of elephants from the bloody ivory trade
  • Sign a Griddix petition urging U.S. President Barack Obama and President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso to officialy ask to the Chinese government to stop the brutal practice of eating dog meat and to immediately end the terrible tortures to which dogs are subjected in China
  • Sign a Change.org petition urging Nestle Purina to recall chicken jerky treats made in China
  • Sign a Care2 petition urging Chinese president Hu Jintao to stop killing endangered species
  • Sign a Change.org petition to stop the sale of "living keychains"
  • Sign a Care2 petition asking the Chinese government to ban shark finning
  • Sign PETA's Pledge to Be Fur-Free
  • Sign a ForceChange petition to protect threatened populations of Asian musk deer
  • Sign a Care for Chinese Animals petition to ban dog and cat meat in China
  • Join Bill Clinton, Paul McCartney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Bono, Ricky Gervais, Roger Moore, Susan Sarandon, Anjelica Huston, Jeremy Irons, Paula Abdul, Joan Jett, Annie Lennox, Elton John and thousands of others who have signed the TigerTime petition urging Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to call for an end to all tiger trade in China
  • Sign a Change.org petition to close China's bear bile farms
  • Sign the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW)
  • Follow 13.7 Billion Years on Twitter
23 REASONS ANIMAL LOVERS SHOULD BOYCOTT CHINA
PAST SERIES
image: A rhino killed in Africa for its horn, which commands up to $60,000 per kilogram in China (mydreamcourse)
Labels: , , , , ,

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)