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All Rhino Species |
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What powers this man in his crusade to save the rhino? Michael Werikhe doesn't even like to walk or talk very much. But in this case, the ends justify the means.
Determined to find a job in wildlife, he started work for the Kenyan game board at a place known as 'Ivory Room'. (Before the ban on hunting in Kenya, elephant tusks were sold at auctions in Mombasa). To some people, sorting tusks was a job, for Michael it was a horror-chamber. He quit his job and eventually found work with Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA) in Mombasa. AVA's management noticed Michael's passion for nature and arranged for him to. give talks to the workers on snakes. Yet it was not enough for this man with a dream. He wanted to do something, but what could he do? Michael's attention was drown to the rhino which he saw as the focus of all the threatened wildlife he so loved. Despite Kenya's hunting bap and the plight of the rhino's demise reaching international levels, rhinos were still dying. He decided to walk from Mombasa to Nairobi to raise funds for the rhino.
AVA was very supportive and agreed to give him time off. Michael went to Nairobi looking for sponsorship and convinced the East African Wildlife Society and other wildlife clubs that he was not a con-man.
Soon he set off - taking a snake with him as a talking point when he met people along the way. The rewards were mcich greater. than anticipated. This was a turning point in wildlife conservation in Africa as it was assumed that most Africans did not care about conservation. Here was a Kenyan sacrificing his own time and comfort for rhino conservation.
Apart from the substantial amounts raised, for research projects, Michael created overwhelming publicity for the rhino and over the years has walked some 5 000 kilometers in Europe and America - with one mission: to make people aware of the beautiful lcind ond-creclures of Africa, using the rhino as the symbol. When Michael needs to emphasise the urgency of his task, he only points to the figures of the lost few decades in which Africa has lost more than 90 percent of its rhino population.
In October last year Michael Werikhe stopped over in Johannesburg, on his way to Taipei - to reassess some very negative preconceptions of Taiwan as a major player in the illegal trade of rhino horn. A worm reception and tangible signs of progress on the Taiwanese side have, by his own admission, impressed him, but his praise for Taiwan's efforts remains measured.
'In the last year or so there seems to have been some progress, I'd like to be fair on that,' Werikhe said. 'However, it has taken quite some time to actually make that move. A lot has been said since 1985 but its been on paper. I painfully tried to look for solutions from the Taiwanese people's point of view on- how best to solve some of the most vexing and mind-boggling - problems affecting the survival of this seriously endangered large mammal.'
In Taiwan, Michael tried to promote the double message of stiffening the current one-year or NT$ 30.000 fine for importation or trade in rhino horn, and using a substitute ingredient for powdered horn in traditional Chinese medicine.
'Chinese people are known for their appetites and have an eye for anything that moves, with an exception of probably insects -all is fair game for them. It is no wonder that a majority of their native creatures, snakes, mammals, fish and amphibians are threatened with extinction because of over-exploitation. 'In the company of traditional medicine men we visited several shops and were shown a wide range of herbal substitutes displayed in large quantities. I was informed that the prices of the various substitutes were very affordable to the ordinary man and that the herbs were just as effective in lowering fever - a condition believed by many people in South Asia to be treated by powdered rhino horn. As a result of heavy international pressure directed at Taiwan, mainland China, and Yemen to stop the rhino horn trade, traders in the traditional medicine shops removed all traces of rhino horn products from their shelves.
As such, I did not see any horn or by-products on display. My fear is that the rhino horn trade has now gone underground and this could be a tricky situation in terms of monitoring the illegal trade. A number of medicine-men 1 interviewed told me that they had stopped prescribing rhino horn as is required by low, but openly acknowledged having registered horns and products in their possession. 1 am convinced beyond doubt, thot the selling of rhino horn flourishes under the counter of many traditional pharmacies, despite assurance fron! the Government that it has stopped.' If the forthcorhing CITES Conference in November 1994 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA fails to come up with a strong resolution, then we. may just as well kiss the rhino good-bye.' If those remaining rhinos are saved from the poacher's bullet it will be partly due to the efforts of this unpretentious, soft-spoken Kenyan.
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Michael Werikhe, the rhino man of Kenya
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