★★★To Protect Rhinos, Anti-Poaching Business Grows in South Africa

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Vocabulary

*Read the words carefully.

1. poacher /ˈpōCHər/ (n.) a person who hunts or catches game or fish illegally
2. ranger /ˈrānjər/ (n.) a person in charge of managing and protecting part of a public forest or national park
3. lodge /ˈbärbəˌrizəm/ (n.) a small house at the gates of a park or in the grounds of a large house, typically occupied by a gatekeeper, gardener, or other employee
4. corruption /kəˈrəpSHən/ (n.) dishonest or illegal behavior especially by powerful people (such as government officials or police officers)
5. aggressive /əˈgresiv/ (adj.) ready or likely to attack or confront; characterized by or resulting from aggression; using forceful methods to succeed or to do something

Article

To Protect Rhinos, Anti-Poaching Business Grows in South Africa

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(1) Some private game farmers in South Africa are hiring armed protection for their rhinos. New security companies are being started to fight an increase in rhinoceros poaching.

(2) Poachers are now well-armed and well-financed. A single horn sells for than $65,000 per kilogram — more valuable than gold. Rhino horns are sold mostly in Vietnam and China, on the false belief that they can cure all kinds of problems.

(3) Simon Rood started a security company in South Africa five years ago, when rhino poaching started to increase. Today, his 35 rangers supervise an area of 150,000 hectares in Limpopo province.

(4) Simon Rood was a soldier in the South African army, and gives military training to his rangers. He says they have never lost a rhino to poaching. This, he says, is because his rangers patrol 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and live and sleep in the bush.

(5) “24/7, they’ve got to live in the bush, 24/7 the guys patrolling. Obviously the guys are moving around. You’ve only got so many people on the ground. but you’ve got area coverage. They’re moving from area to area.”

(6) Callie Botha manages a lodge that had six rhinos. Recently he found one dead, with its horns cut off. He owned the rhino for 12 years.

(7) “I fed it every day. He was part of the family.”

(8) Replacing a rhino costs about $28,000. But Callie Botha says armed protection also costs a lot, and he worries about his own safety. So he may stop breeding rhinos.

(9) “The risk is too high.”

(10) But others are willing to pay. Stephen Leonard owns an eco-lodge for nature travelers. He started using the security service after an incident at the beginning of the year.

(11) “In end of January, we had an instance where people came inside the property and they tracked down rhinos.”

(12) He did not lose any rhinos but decided to increase security.

(13) “The poachers are heavily armed, and we are not, so we’d rather get people that are armed to come and do the anti-poaching for us.”

(14) Karen Trendler works at South Africa’s only rhino orphanage. She says increasing security is important. But, like Simon Rood, she thinks there should be a law to establish rules for training.

(15) “If the security companies are not well-trained, there is always the risk of corruption.”

(16) She says a long-term solution will come through education and law enforcement. She says Yemen is an example of a country that has stopped buying rhino horn.

(17) “The rhino horn was used for ceremonial daggers. And there was a huge demand for rhino horn. And through a very, very well coordinated and aggressive awareness project, linked with good law enforcement, that demand has been reduced completely.”

(18) Poaching of endangered animals in Africa is growing. You can find a series of stories about poaching at voanews.com. And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I’m Karen Leggett.

Discussion

*Let’s talk about the article base on the questions below

1. Do you like animals? Why or why not? If you’re an animal lover, what is your favorite animal and why?
2. Talking about security, how safe is the place your living in? Where is the most dangerous place in your country? Why is it not safe?
3. What do you think is the main reason why poachers still continue to do what they are doing? Is it money or the demand of the people? Please support your answer.

 

English Compositions

*Let’s make English compositions using the words from the article.

(1) corruption

EX) “If the security companies are not well-trained, there is always the risk of corruption.”

(2) aggressive

EX) Through a very, very well coordinated and aggressive awareness project, linked with good law enforcement, that demand has been reduced completely.