Did you know? Rhinos wll be extinct by year 2020 #CarryGobySeanKellz #FutureGroupNG via @i_amreginaldjr

RHINOS in the wild will be extinct by 2020 if the levels of poaching continue, experts have warned.

Rhinos are set to be extinct by 2020[GETTY]

The slaughter of both white and black rhinos has soared in six years. In 2007, 13 rhinos were poached, but last year that number rose to 1,004.
Criminal gangs, and even terror groups like Al Qaeda, are making millions of pounds a year by hacking the animals to death for their horns.
Many of the horns are ground into powder and used as traditional medicine in the Far East to treat ailments such as hangovers.
Will Travers, chief executive of the Born Free Foundation, warned last night: “There are now just 20,000 white rhino and 5,000 black rhino left in the wild. If poaching carries on at the rate it is now for six more years it will devastate the numbers.
“There will probably be no free-living rhinos as the remaining numbers will be fenced off in military-style compounds which are alarmed and heavily guarded by armed patrols.”

 

Chillingly, the fortunes made from poaching are being ploughed into terrorism. Mr Travers spoke of links between “organised wildlife crime and the funding of terrorist militia activity”.
He was speaking after attending a summit on wildlife crime in Pretoria, South Africa, last week.
The conference, attended by 140 experts, was held in response to plans by the South African government to legalise the trade in rhino horn so the proceeds can be used for conservation.
“That’s the wrong way to go about it,” said Mr Travers. He said making tourists pay a £3 conservation tax would work far better.
He added: “Poaching is a low-penalty crime and that has to change. We need better intelligence gathering and more equipment and manpower.”