Killed by Elephant and Eaten by Lions

This week I met a man quite by accident, as I mistook him for another person. He had a dark complexion and indicated that he was from Nigeria. The conversation led me to confess that I had never traveled to anywhere in Africa. Somehow he assumed I might enjoy hunting big game. I laughed and assured him that I has no interest in killing animals of any magnitude. I felt badly that I automatically assigned attributes to this ebony-colored man in an awkward conversation that only lasted a few minutes. The man switched gears and shared with me a recent news item about a man killed by an elephant and eaten by lions. After this casual encounter, I had to know more. It wasn’t hard to find the story with a bit of help from Google the AP News Service.

A man suspected of being a rhino poacher was killed last week by an elephant and his remains devoured by a pride of lions at a South African park…

The New York Times report said that a Rhino Poacher was killed by elephant and eaten by lions in a South African Park. Rhino horn is worth about $9,000 per pound in Asia, driving a lucrative and illicit trade. It is a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and is considered a status symbol. “It’s one of the most expensive wildlife products on the illegal market and that’s why these poachers go after it,” Michael Slattery, founder of the Texas Christian University Rhino Inititive, says. “The current prices for a rhino horn are anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 a kilogram. They are seeing dollar signs. It is more expensive than gold and cocaine, so the demand is driving these poachers.” South Africa is home to about 20,000 wild rhinos, more than 80 percent of the world’s population. About one-third of the animals are owned by private breeders. Since 2008, more than 7,000 rhinos have been hunted illegally, with 1unt,028 killed in 2017, according to the South African Department of Environmental Affairs. The poachers can get more money if they can deliver a complete rhino horn, but to get a full rhino horn they have to kill the animal, Professor Slattery said. Poachers drug the rhinos and then use a machete to “hack away at the face,” he said. The rhinos then bleed to death. A rhino horn, which is made of 100 percent keratin, or the equivalent of compressed hair, provides no health benefits to humans. Still, people grind up the horn and use it in a drink in a misguided effort to reduce fevers and cure hangovers, among other things. Rhino horns are also given as gifts, Professor Slattery said.

The news story and the details are fascinating and the encounter made me wonder in the context of Ubuntu how I was guilty of making assumptions about this Nigerian man as he seemed to be making about me. Ubuntu was translated for me to mean roughly I AM BECAUSE WE ARE. I didn’t know the rhino hunter who died but I cannot help thinking the animals won this time.