Reducing Demand for Rhino Horn in the USA

Greetings all,

Thanks to you, we continue to help people across Southern California learn that they can help rhino conservation by helping to reduce the consumption of rhino horn here in the US. We have given over a half-dozen presentations around SoCal to school groups, public presentations, and teacher groups over the last few months. We emphasize that we in the US are likely the third largest consumer of rhino horn in the world, behind only China and Vietnam.

Americans must continue to speak out against the consumption of rhino horn – and elephant tusks, tiger parts, pangolin scales, totoaba fish swim bladders, and other animal parts – as part of Traditional Asian Medicine (TAM) and related consumption practices. The animal parts component of TAM has led to the extinction and rapid depletion of many species, including all five rhino species.

To this end, we are going to take this show on the road to get this message out across the entire country! In early 2020, we are planning to tow a life-sized rhino model on a wheeled platform across the country and use it as part of a series of school assembly presentations. We will continue to encourage the teachers to adopt and frequently use our Rhinocation education curriculum as a tie-in to the assembly presentations.

We are confident, based on our searching of the research literature, that this will be a great way to get the message out broadly.

Stay tuned as we develop this over the next few months!

Yours in Rhinocation,

James

We are excited to be able to expand this project even more than it was already! We have hired a really skilled, creative, and innovative conservation educator who has been involved at the highest levels of these kinds of campaigns!

Ms. Pletcher will be working with Helping Rhinos USA to expand this project in fall of 2019, and will be amazing. She has already started reaching out to teachers and principals across San Diego, Orance, LA, and Riverside counties to try to visit as many as 20 additional schools this fall.

These counties are where the majority of possible rhino horn consumers live, and where the majority of the confiscations of smuggled rhino horn have occurred. The children in these communities are already advocates for conservation. Our rhinocation efforts will build their abilities and knowledge to be passionate advocates for rhino conservation!

Welcome to the Rhinocation Team Ms. Pletcher!