Poaching is defined as the act of catching and/or killing of animals without permission on someone else’s land (Cambridge University Press, 2017).

Building on that understanding, it has being reported that Javan Rhinos were hunted and killed by trophy hunters during colonial times, and such acts had not yet been abandoned since those days (Martin et al., 1992). More recently, the poaching of Rhinos have exacerbated which include our precious Javan Rhino. Why? It is mainly for their horns.

Source: africa-wildlife-detective

Due to this flood of poaching activities, Javan Rhinos can be said to have been almost wiped out leaving only a small number that is currently living in Vietnam and Java (WWF, 2017) (IUCN, 2017). Some might even considered such tragedies to be a sounding alarm that Javan Rhinos are crying out for help!

Source: africa-wildlife-detective

So what motivates the poaching of such mistreated animals?

There are several reasons. One major reason been the so believed utilitarian value of its medicinal properties of its horns. Utilitarian value here could be defined as the value which the perpetrator believes in whether the behavior (poaching) he/she is currently engaging in could provide greater good (benefits) for the perpetrator and those who demand for the horns (customers/market). Apparently, Rhino horns when grinded into ‘medicinal powder’ can cost up to $55000 per kilogram in Asia due to its exoticness which can rival the cost of even illegal drugs like cocaine and even real gold (Hays, 2013). Such occurrences easily illustrates that the perpetrators had much to gained in financial earnings from poaching, while customers would be living under the illusion that the horns’ powder was contributing to their health. It could also be possible that poachers and users of such ‘medicinal’ products could be understood as lacking in humanistic values towards such animals. Humanistic value here would be defined as having emotional bond with the particular animal that is similar to human bonds. Another possibility could be that the users or perpetrators engaged in temporal discounting, where means that they are too focused on making a living out of this poor animals in the form of short term livelihood thus not considering about the possible lost of a species in the future or how the decrease in numbers of this species might affect the local ecological system in the long run.

Some of these asian cultures believe that rhino horn(s) can actually cure diseases such as typhoid fever, convulsions, cancer, infertility and more. However, these beliefs are just false claims as scientific evidence had shown that rhino horn(s) has no substantial medicinal value (Becker, 2012) (africa-wildlife-detective, 2017). Thus, the practice of anti-environmental poaching can be considered partially supported by asian medicinal beliefs that the balance of one’s health and well being can be obtained through elements from nature. Such is strongly observed in some unofficial mimicry of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that is been practiced in China. Sad to say such related practices has proliferated and affected other Asia and Non-Asia cultures in their practice of medicine throughout the ages (africa-wildlife-detective, 2017).

Another reason would have been due to the exoticness of the products made from its horns which ranges from dagger handles, sports trophies, antiques to dressing accessories and heirlooms (Poaching Facts, 2017). This could be view as a problem that originated from materialism as people place higher value in rhino horns products either for social status (as a form of self presentation to others), collection (personal appreciation). There is also superstitious beliefs such as good luck attached to rhino horn(s) products (Parker, 2007) (Africa Geographic Editorial, 2013).

Source: Inglehart

As shown in the chart, many Asian countries are located in the bottom left of the chart which indicates that they are growing in materialistic values and can be considered as materialistic nations. Thus, it is common for their citizens to practice consumerism which is coupled by consumerism is life message which is constantly portrayed by their media. Thus, their media and government also have a large part to play in shaping their materialistic sense of purpose (TREND WATCHING, 2017). And of course the producers of such products contributes to the materialism problem as well.

Rhinos are also poached for other valuable body parts by organized crime syndicates using sophisticated smuggling methods, frequently operating through countries with high levels of corruption with demands from the wealthy in East Asia driving the trade. Although not the core reasons for the perpetuation of poaching, human-rhino conflict could have contributed minimally, with hunters trying to protect their own property or livelihoods, while percieving rhinos as possible threats to their agricultural establishments. Other reasons could be due to the lack of conservancy benefits, wildlife removal, firearm training and entertainment (Clayton & Myers, 2015).

These perpetual needs for Rhino Horns eventually grew into a big illegal trading trend that storm across the world affecting especially Asian countries heavily (Martin et al., 1992) (IUCN, 2013) (BUYNORHINO, 2017).

Source: National Geographic

Here is yet another scoop on how such trade can still persist for those with high social standings!

How can we better understand the process of how poaching leads to the endangerment of the species?

This could be answered with the concept of the Tragedy of the Commons. Let’s take into the account of a hunter that makes a living out of hunting rhinos. When he is aware that there are other hunters out there who are also hunting for rhinos, this increases competition for the same resources. Each hunter in their own frame of mind wants to maximise profit, thus, hunting at their maximum potential, with the thought of not losing out to the other competitors. At the same time, each hunter do not want to stop hunting, as they know that someone else will take over the hunting, even if they stop hunting themselves. So what happen next would be as the number of hunters grew in numbers, each hunter aims to maximise their self interest by extracting the same resource ‘uncontrollably’ (In the context of poaching, it is suppose to be controlled by the authorities but poachers illegally disregard the control). When the common resource is still in large quantities and the users are not in large numbers, the common resource is still able to replenish itself. However, When the number of hunters increase by many folds and exceeded a limit, the common resource is no longer able to replenish itself as fast to meet with the demands and move towards depletion or extinction. Thus, in the case of Rhinos, as they are unable to reproduce as rapidly as the rise of the demand for their horns and other parts of their body, their numbers dwindle quickly as the hunters show no signs of stopping. And eventually, this phenomenon is exactly what happened to the Javan Rhinos, where the supply can no longer meet the demand, leaving us with only an estimate of less than 66 of them worldwide (Gardner & Stern, 2002).

Still not convinced that Javan Rhinos’ demise was partly human caused? Click below!