Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017

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Iggy
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Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017

Postby Iggy » Wed 18 Oct 2017, 18:43

Rhino Winner WPY17.jpg
Rhino Winner WPY17.jpg (89.05 KiB) Viewed 1292 times

I attended the Media Preview for the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017 by invitation that was held at the Natural History Museum this morning.
The winners was Brent Stirton with his image of a dead rhino with its horns sawn off.
Following his introduction about his image I asked him what he thought was the main cause for the killing of rhinos. He surprised me by saying "ignorance" and went on to expand about the non efficacy of rhino horn as treatment for various conditions that people needed to be made aware off, as that might stop the demand.
I suggested that it was human population growth and the tremendous increase of hungry poor people that needed to eat.

See also :http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/photography/black-rhino-photo-wildlife-photographer-year-2017-win-poachers-natural-history-museum-killed-south-a8006871.html

Little disappointed today with low turn out of photographers at their images to talk to. Last year was much better with more short listed photographers about.

Iggy
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Peter Boughton
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Re: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017

Postby Peter Boughton » Wed 18 Oct 2017, 19:14

I suggested that it was human population growth and the tremendous increase of hungry poor people that needed to eat.

My understanding is that they do not eat the animals - they literally remove the horns and leave them to die, as the photo shows.

There is the element of poachers hiring locals to tell them where the rhinos are - educating about extinction and providing other methods of income is an aspect of the solution - but as Brent says stopping the demand resulting from the lies told of rhino horn being a magic miracle cure is what's needed.
Iggy
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Joined: Thu 09 Apr 2015, 09:48

Re: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2017

Postby Iggy » Fri 20 Oct 2017, 09:19

Hi Peter,
Thanks for your comments.

Reducing demand for the horns should decrease the killing of rhinos but that is easier said than done as it very difficult to counteract long held traditions in the Far East. Getting these countries to introduce legislation against the import of rhino horn and elephant tusks is also difficult. Britain still does not as yet have this legislation in place either.

The poachers are locals who get a relatively small amount of money for taking the risks to obtaining the horn which they use to support their families. Roughly 25% or 15 million people are currently unemployed today in South Africa who’s human population has quadrupled in the last 50 years. So you see my issue with population growth, but again that is also difficult to control.

In South Africa that does have a fair few game rangers there is no time to butcher the meat. In West & Central Africa though, bush meat that includes gorilla is all the rage, with some of it even smuggled into Britain.

The rhino in the winning image was killed with a riffle fitted a silencer before it horn was hacked off.

Iggy

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