On March 7th, 2016, a southern white rhinoceros named Vince was found dead at the Thoiry Zoo that is located forty miles west of Paris. This however was not under natural circumstances but rather the cause of poachers breaking in, shooting the rhinoceros three times in the head, and taking what they desired. Currently, at the moment, police officers are investigating who committed the killing of the beloved four-year-old animal after sawing off his horns. Thierry Duguet, known as the zoo director, was interviewed by France’s 20 Minutes newspaper and responded, “It is extremely shocking what just happened. An act of such violence, never before seen in Europe.” It is most likely the poachers used chainsaws to cut off one of the horns while the other horn was only partially cut. Investigators believe this is because the criminals were either interrupted or their equipment became defective. Luckily, the zoo’s two other southern white rhinoceroses escaped the massacre and are safe as for now. Thirty-seven-year-old Gracie and five-year-old Bruno are still traumatized from the incident of their companion being brutally murdered. Vince’s caretaker, who was deeply attached to him, was affected just as much after finding his body the following morning after the break in. A lot of community members are concerned as to how these criminals were even capable of surpassing the presence of five members of the zoo staff and surveillance cameras. In response, Paul de La Panouse, the former director of the zoo’s African enclosure announced to the public, “Animal parks throughout Europe have been put on alert to look out … to get into these places they have to climb 3.5-meter fences, go through padlocked doors. It’s not easy to kill a rhino weighing several tons just like that. It’s a job for professionals.” In spite of international convention and French law, the demand of rhinoceroses’ horns for traditional Asian medicines has led the the black market to sell a kilogram of a rhinoceros’ horn for nearly $54,000. With such high demand, this led to southern white rhinoceroses to nearly go extinct in the late 19th century. Protection efforts were taken into action, and 20,000 animals were under protection in safe areas or private game reserves. Sadly, hundreds of southern white rhinoceroses have been murdered in recent years simply because they are unaggressive and vulnerable to hunting. This is why Vince was targeted at the Thoiry Zoo and a warning for other European zoos to be on the lookout for the next upcoming slaughter. We can all agree what happened at Thoiry Zoo was sickening and something must be done as soon as possible to put a stop to these horrific crimes.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/03/07/519009851/poachers-break-into-french-zoo-kill-white-rhino-and-steal-his-horn