Vietnamese pop stars to help save rhinos
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Two Vietnamese pop stars have been co-opted into South Africa's campaign to save the rhino so that they can help spread the message in East Asia, where demand for rhino horn is huge.
The two, Thu Minh and Thanh Bui, were hosted by the Wilderness Foundation, a conservation group headquartered in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth and which is at the forefront of saving the rhino.
The celebrities’ visit was part of the foundation’s Demand Reduction Strategy developed to assist in addressing rhino poaching by reducing demand for rhino horn in user countries which are mostly in East Asia.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday evening after a tour of one of the game reserves just outside Port Elizabeth, Minh said: “In Vietnam we have to understand how important it is to protect the environment, wildlife and our heritage.
“The whole world is looking in horror at what we are doing to the rhino. It has to stop for the sake of the rhino and for the honour of Vietnam.”
Minh said he had experienced the horror of what was being done to the rhino, as well as to the majestic beauty of this species in the past few days.
Echoing the same sentiments, Bui called on the public to stop “wasting your money on killing innocent rhino for no gain”.
Wilderness Foundation chief executive Andrew Muir said wildlife crime was the fifth most profitable illicit trade in the world, estimated at up to US$10 billion (Bt332 billion) annually.
