The WWF and its Security Efforts to Protect Rhinos from Poachers in South Africa

             For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting and conserving the future of nature. The world’s leading conservation organization, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. The World Wildlife Fund was founded on April 29, 1961 in the small town of Morges in Switzerland, by a group of people who made a commitment to the natural world. The ‘Morges Manifesto’ became the proposal for the first global green organization – the WWF. The organization's international secretariat was established in Switzerland in September, and national WWF offices were gradually set up across the world, starting with the UK in November 1961 and including Canada in 1967 by Senator Alan MacNaughton. By the end of the 1970s, the focus of WWF's work had expanded to include not only the conservation of wildlife and habitats, but also the wider implications of man's activities on the environment. The well-known panda logo of WWF originated from a panda named Chi-chi that was transferred from the Beijing Zoo to the London Zoo in the same year of the establishment of WWF. The WWF's mission is the conservation of nature. Using the best available scientific knowledge and advancing that knowledge where we can, we work to preserve the diversity and abundance of life on Earth and the health of ecological systems by protecting natural areas and wild populations of plants and animals, including endangered species; promoting sustainable approaches to the use of renewable natural resources; and promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution.

The WWF has launched a campaign to raise support and funding for those rangers who put their lives on the line to protect Africa's rhinos. Rhino poaching has increased dramatically over the past year-and-a half, fueled by demand for Rhino horns used in traditional medicines. The number of rhinos killed by poachers in 2010 has soared to 261, more than double the total for the whole of 2009.  South Africa, home to more than 90 per cent of the world's estimated 23, 000 rhino population, has been losing at least 20 of the animals per month and in the past four years, about 600 rhinos were poached across the African continent. During the month-long campaign WWF will be stepping up its support to security efforts in dangerous areas with high rates of poaching and will be seeking public support through awareness-raising events. 

In my opinion, rhino poaching is a terrible thing. Rhino's are on the verge of being extinct and are an endangered species and humans still have the audacity to hunt them for the "medicine" that is believed to be contained in their horns. This is unbelievable to me because it shows how selfish people could be to kill an animal for their own needs. I think that the World Wildlife Fund is an amazing organization and helps the environment and the world for the better in many ways. 

REFERENCES:

World Wildlife Fund

WWF - Canada

World Wide Fund for Nature

Rhino Poaching

Efforts to Protect Rhinos From Poachers

COMMENTS:
Abigail Lopez
J.P. Masson