Now that the numbers of rhinoceros in the wild are
dwindling and ever more
sophisticated techniques are employed to catch poachers, thieves are targeting the
natural history museums and auction houses of the United Kingdom and Europe. At least
20 museums and other establishments (
most of which are listed below) have been plundered of their rhino mounts so far by members of a suspected
international crime ring doing irreparable damage:
- Haslemere Educational Museum, Surrey, UK
- Ipswitch Museum, Surrey, UK (1st and 2nd images)
- Sworder’s Auctioneers, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, UK
- Natural History Museum, Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany
- Zoology Museum, Hamburg, Germany
- Hunting Museum Wulff, Dedelstorf, Saxony, Germany (3rd image)
- Brussels Natural History Museum, Brussels, Belgium
- Africa Museum, Namur, Belgium
- Museum of Natural History, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Natural History Museum, Florence, Italy
- Natural History Museum, Blois, France
- Museum of Science, University of Coimbra, Portugal
- Kitale Museum, Kenya
- Mammal Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
- Transvaal Museum, Pretoria, South Africa
- Aristocratic House of Liechtensteiner, Prague, Czech Republic
Even horns as old as these are mistakenly believed to be effective ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine (
as a cure for cancer, not an aphrodisiac), and fetch
twice the price of gold.
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