Should we farm Rhinos for the horn?

[Trien Chieu]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/316974
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&gl...l487l0.2.1l3l0

Rhino is on the path of extinction due to a popular belief from Asia (VietNam and China) that rhino horns can cure cancer. Consequently, the price of rhino horns exceeds the price of gold. Since the price of rhino horns is so high, why don't we have rhino farm just like pig farm and chicken farm?

[jiang bao]

Why don't we farm your brain for IQ points since you are so wise?

The answer would be why we shouldn't farm rhino horns to "cure cancer."

[Trien Chieu]

Why don't we farm your brain for IQ points since you are so wise?

I saw this coming from a million miles away. No surprise to see personal attack from someone who grew up in the hood.

The answer would be why we shouldn't farm rhino horns to "cure cancer."

The problem is, it doesn't work.

[Guo Xiang]

The problem is, it doesn't work.

Erm, so you are saying, we should sponge off people who are grabbing onto false hope by giving them even more false hope?

[dictionary]

Just got done reading about how one rhino suffered for hours before dying after the horn was removed. Kill a life to save a life--no thank you. Farm pig chicken, cow... those animals suffer a lot too. The way they are caged and slaughtered... Thinking about it sure makes my blood boil.

[Trien Chieu]

Erm, so you are saying, we should sponge off people who are grabbing onto false hope by giving them even more false hope?

According to the scientists, it doesn't work but those scientists could be wrong. According to rumor, it works. Even here in Canada, I heard people say that they know someone who has been cure from certain sickness by consuming rhino horn. Logically, if it doesn't work then people would know it by now and stop buying them. There would be no demand for the product, but the demand is higher, perhaps it works to some extend. Again, I am not an expert on the field so I don't know whether it works or not. For me, prevention is the best cure.

Just got done reading about how one rhino suffered for hours before dying after the horn was removed. Kill a life to save a life--no thank you. Farm pig chicken, cow... those animals suffer a lot too. The way they are caged and slaughtered... Thinking about it sure makes my blood boil.

I wasn't talking about killing a person to save another person life. What is the difference between rhino and chicken? They both are animal for people to consume. Are you a vegetarian or a vegan?

[jiang bao]

I know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who got cured of AIDs by eating centipedes for 3 months too. Doesn't mean it works or happened.

And no, it wasn't a personal attack. It was a way to try to get you to think about taking a life for something that's not going to work. Since you have displayed an utter lack of empathy, I was trying to get you to think from a first person perspective why it is wrong.

About the comparison of chicken to rhino killing. We eat chicken for food. Rhinos are being killed for no other reason than superstition. Again, it'd be like us cutting your brain out to eat because we believe that doing this will increase our IQ.

[yittz]

If only people can be superstitious about more abundant materials rather than rare materials/items belonging to species on brink of extinction. Unfortunately being rare makes it a profitable business for hunters/marketers, and there are only too many un-informed who are willing to fund this.

If you want to prove some thing works, it will have to go through scientific method and strict testing. I am sick of people comparing anedoctes to evidence.

[LuNaR]

i hear drinking baby pee willl cure cancer too, lets farm babies

No surprise to see personal attack from someone who grew up in the hood.

got dayum jiang bao u so hood mang, what is this i dont even...

[Ren Wo Xing]

The personal attacks are getting out of hand. Disagree politely, or you'll disagree outside of the forum for a few weeks.

[remember_Cedric]

Would people DIE without the horns?

Why spent more resources to farm?

[Guo Xiang]

Would people DIE without the horns?

Why spent more resources to farm?

For those who believe it can cure cancer, yes. Sadly enough...

[Dimeron]

Is it economically feasible to farm Rhinos? I don't think it is given how long it takes a Rhino to grow to maturity.

But if it is feasible, yes, absolutely. It will help with Africa economy and help prevent Rhinos from going extinct.

As for people who buy it, I don't personally believe that stuff, but hey, supply and demand is basis of Capitalism. Diamonds are also pretty worthless outside of industry uses but people buy them anyways just because they are shinny.

[Krimzon]

I never heard of Rhino horns curing cancer until I read this topic. I don't believe it. I believe there is a way to cure cancer. We just haven't found it yet. More research needs to be done.

[Trien Chieu]

Is it economically feasible to farm Rhinos? I don't think it is given how long it takes a Rhino to grow to maturity.

But if it is feasible, yes, absolutely. It will help with Africa economy and help prevent Rhinos from going extinct.

As for people who buy it, I don't personally believe that stuff, but hey, supply and demand is basis of Capitalism. Diamonds are also pretty worthless outside of industry uses but people buy them anyways just because they are shinny.

As long as there are people believe that it has the power to cure cancer, I would say YES. According to the scientists, the horn is like human finger nail that doesn't have any curing power. However, I don't know whether it works or not but currently, there are people in VietNam and China willing to pay very high price for the product.

I never heard of Rhino horns curing cancer until I read this topic. I don't believe it. I believe there is a way to cure cancer. We just haven't found it yet. More research needs to be done.

I don't believe it can cure cancer either. Perhaps there is a cure that scientists haven't discover yet. For me, prevention is the best cure. Living a healthy lifestyle is better than all the medicines out there.

At the moment, the demand of rhino horn is higher than ever. The killing of rhinos continues.....
http://planetsave.com/2012/02/16/rhi...s-africa-more/

There are some experts want to legalize the trade of rhino horns
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/...137825839.html

[remember_Cedric]

For those who believe it can cure cancer, yes. Sadly enough...

No I don't mean need it in the mythological sense but in the sense like an essential need.

My conclusion is, we shouldn't farm, of course. No because It's a belief by the no-brainers. No because it is proven to be an absolute myth. No because waste of resources. No because we should just leave the rhinos alone.

P.s. JB, I really love your reply especially the line on increasing IQ.

[jiang bao]

No I don't mean need it in the mythological sense but in the sense like an essential need.

My conclusion is, we shouldn't farm, of course. No because It's a belief by the no-brainers. No because it is proven to be an absolute myth. No because waste of resources. No because we should just leave the rhinos alone.

P.s. JB, I really love your reply especially the line on increasing IQ.

When someone says something so stupid that you cannot believe a personal of a rational mind can say or think and after many tries to reason, you just kinda have to go with sarcasm. Then it gets viewed as personal attack LOL. If fair minded people actually read what I wrote instead of jumping to conclusions, it was clear I was making a metaphor about how stupid the idea of eating rhinos to cure cancer is. I.e. eating rhino horn to cure cancer is as stupid as eating a brain to increase IQ.

Anyway, I am out again.
Maybe I'll check back in another six months or so.

[S Beaver]

No I don't mean need it in the mythological sense but in the sense like an essential need.

My conclusion is, we shouldn't farm, of course. No because It's a belief by the no-brainers. No because it is proven to be an absolute myth. No because waste of resources. No because we should just leave the rhinos alone.

Love, I think you (all) are misunderstanding the debate, thanks to TC making the wrong analogy (or making the wrong arguments).

Farming rhino horns is not the same as farming chicken and pigs, where the products are killed for ther meat (or horns). It is more like farming sheep for their wool. The animals are not suppose to be killed and the resources obtained will eventually return to the animals (they just might look super ugly in the meantime)

Regardless of whether or not rhino horns have medicinal effects, the main debate is about whether or not farming rhino horns will SAVE them from poaching (at least, I think that's what the controversy is).

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/04...videoChannel=5

When rhinos are illegally poached, they are often killed. However, the rhinoes who are "farmed" for their horns are not killed. The rhinos are anesthesize and their horns removed. The rhinos will live and their horns will eventually grow back (like your hair and nails). It is similar to the concept of farming sheep for their wool.

The idea is that the the market price for rhino horns are high because they are mostly produced from illegal poaching. If you can introduce into the market the same product except it is cheaper, legal, and possibly more ethical (at least the rhinos don't die), then it may at least drive some poachers out of the market and hopefully discourage poachers from further rhino poaching. Though, I'm no expert in economics, so someone else will probably verify or correct my assumption.

Of course, the best method to save the rhinos is to discourage the buyers by educating them both the possible myth of the horn's medicinal effects and the inhumanity of killing rhinoes, but cultures are often hard to change. It may take quite a while to completely change the mindsets so we need other options in the meantime. Catching all the poachers is not a completely practical method either given that hunting them is already illegal (it's like trying to demolish all the drug lords). Producing legal rhino horns may encourage more buyers, but at least in the time being, these "legal" horns have not caused any rhino deaths. In addition, perhaps the more people who try rhino horn due to "false hope", they more people they would know who did didn't get "saved" by rhino horns. Perhaps a bigger statistics pool would be more convincing to people that the rhino horn is a myth (and if there is an association discovered between rhino horn and curing cancer...then we may be going in to another debate)

Perhaps, at least for now, we should at least try it out for a few years and see if it does affect the market and rate of rhino poaching or not.

Of course, the debate goes further than that, but I just wanted to clarify that "farming rhinoes" is the not same as "farming pigs"

[SweetSourSalt]

I saw this coming from a million miles away. No surprise to see personal attack from someone who grew up in the hood.



The problem is, it doesn't work.

This is exactly how I feel when somebody cannot say anything valid or provide example than just to insult the other person with name calling and harsh words.


As for farming rhino..... I say to preserve culture than we should.

As for the other stuff you talk about than I think it need to be deeply analyze.