WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES Rhinos brutally slaughtered in record numbers - but why?

'The extensive poaching for the illegal trade in horn continues to undermine the rhino conservation successes made in Africa over the last two decades.'

Rhinoceros are habitually hunted for their horns, which many desire for decoration or for mystical medicinal reasons -the most recent rumor in South Africa is that rhino horns can cure cancer.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The International Union for Conservation of Nature (UICN) reported a record high for rhino poaching in South Africa since 2008.

Since 2008, poachers were found responsible for the deaths of nearly 6,000 African rhinos.

Law enforcement has been strengthened, with one rhino poacher-hunting dog receiving a hero's medal for leading to the arrest of 115 poachers in Kruger National Park within a four-year period.

Despite being made of the same materials as fingernails, rhinoceros horns are sought for medicinal and decorative purposes, with a single horn costing more than $60k a pound.

"The extensive poaching for the illegal trade in horn continues to undermine the rhino conservation successes made in Africa over the last two decades," Mike Knight, the chairman of African rhino specialists for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature stated.

Most rhinos are shot and killed as poachers take chainsaws to the helpless animal's face.

Poaching is what led to the western black rhino's extinction five years ago and the fevered attempts to protect the remaining three northern white rhinos left in the world.

Sadly, some rhinoceros survive after being shot and having their horns cruelly carved off.

For those rhinos whose heads have been disfigured by poachers, one firm has created 3D printed horns to take the place of the lost ones.

The process involves using DNA from the rhinoceros and using it to "grow" a new horn that is later fitted to the animal's face.

If something big doesn't happen to deter poachers, the remaining rhinos can face permanent disfigurement or extinction. 

"What's frightening is that the same technology that we are able to use, [poachers] are also able to use, Craig Bruce, a rhino specialist at the Zoological Society of London stated. "Shockingly, as much as we're using them to combat the poachers, they're using them to facilitate their poaching.

"...If we continue with the current rate of losses, then I would estimate that within five to 10 years, all we will have is rhinos in very strictly controlled captivity scenarios and we will basically have lost the species in the wild."

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