The Chinese demand for Rhino horn has become outrageous. It is medically useless as it is made up of the some material as our fingernails - keratin. But their superstitious and ignorant beliefs that it will cure everything from a hangover to impotence is raising havoc in Africa and around the world. Rhino horn even though it is useless is commanding such high prices that even Rhino horns from museums are being stolen now. It currently commands a higher price than diamonds, gold, cocaine or heroin.

A very real, sad and tragic consequence of all this poaching is that many baby Rhinos are having to witness their parents being killed. They are then having to grow up without the natural guidance of their parents. Recently a baby Rhino in South Africa had to be rescued from the wild after it's mother was killed when poachers hacked off her horns with a machete. What was particularly evil about this attack was that the little baby Rhino with no horns yet was also hit with the machete. Machetes and chainsaws are the tools that are used to take the horns and as you can imagine they can be and are very deadly to the Rhinos. Many Rhinos go into shock or bleed to death. The baby Rhino has fortunately survived however thanks to it's rescuers and a veterinarian who saved his life.

In an attempt to educate the people of China, the President of the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) and President of Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM), Lixin Huang has come out and said publicly said that rhino horn is no longer approved for use in traditional Chinese medicine. This is just one of the strategies being tried in order to stop this horrendous onslaught of poaching on a species that could very well become extinct if something doesn't stop the Chinese people soon. Millions of dollars are being wasted by them and hundreds of Rhinos are dying in the meantime. There have been almost 300 Rhino deaths this year alone in Africa.

Once again until China has stopped this cruel and worthless cultural custom, it is imperative that we as concerned citizens of the world continue to boycott their products. China is the leading manufacturer of inexpensive goods in the world. The quality and safety of their products has been called into question many times. In America, many brands of dog and cat food contained a toxic ingredient in it from China several years ago and many pets died from it. Baby toys from China also contained high levels of lead.

These are just some examples that have been discovered because of the dire consequences to the consumers from buying products from China. So if you still think that saving a couple of dollars or euros (or whatever currency) is worth it still, then picture in your mind the heartless actions that poachers are taking on an innocent species of animals, the Rhino, as they are being hacked to death. Also picture that of their babies who are having to grow up alone and who will someday most likely face the same fate.