[Courtesy of Parc Zoologique de Thoiry/ Facebook]
A recent incident happened in a Paris zoo shows the seriousness of poaching and how far poachers will go to get rhinos' horns.
Earlier this week, a group of poachers entered Thoiry Zoological Park near Paris and slaughtered a 4-year-old male white rhino named Vince. They sawed off his front horn and partially cut his second horn. The French authority assumed that the perpetrators were interrupted or a chainsaw they were using malfunctioned a half way. The law enforcement is investigating this incident extensively but the culprits are still at large.
Two other rhinos, Bruno and Gracie, living in the zoo were not harmed, fortunately.
According to the statement posted on Zoo's Facebook page, Vince's caretaker who was very attached to her animals is deeply affected by what happened.
The rhino horns are illegally traded and often sought after as prized, private collections in Europe or for their unverified aphrodisiac properties in Asia.
However, this is the first reported incident of public poaching in a European zoo.
[Courtesy of Parc Zoologique de Thoiry/ Facebook]
Thoiry Zoological Park's Facebook post garnered over 17,000 reactions and was shared over 26,000 times.
Reporter Min Jung Kwak = abiel@ajunews.com
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.