Once again poachers have murdered a member of one of the world's most endangered species. This time it didn't happen in an African plain or the jungles of Asia but, shockingly, in a Zoo in France, right under our noses! Vince the 4-year-old white rhino was in his enclosure in the Thoiry Zoo, when poachers broke in under the cover of night and shot him three times in the head. They sawed off one of his horns and attempted to saw off the other when they were interrupted and fled.
Even with CCTV and five employees living on the zoo premises poachers brazenly infiltrated the zoo, killed one of its rarest animals and made off with a horn that could fetch up to $218,000 in the black market. It goes to show, that even in the safety of zoos these animals aren't safe.
Luckily the poachers were disturbed before they could slaughter the other two white rhinos in his enclosure. But are we willing to take another chance with their lives and the future of this precious species? There are now fewer than 21,000 of their kind left in the world and it is time we do everything in our power to save them.
Please join me in asking zoo director Thierry Duquet to send their surviving rhinos - Gracie 37 and Bruno 5 - to an undisclosed sanctuary where they can spend the rest of their lives in peace.
Dear Thierry Duquet , Zoo Director ;
I am heartbroken at the news of Vince the white rhino's heinous murder. Zoo animals, especially their rarest species, should be protected at all cost. I and thousands of others are asking you to please send Gracie and Bruno, the surviving rhinos to a sanctuary where they will be safe from poachers and can live the rest of their lives in peace.
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Sincerely,
