The wreck of thousands of migrating mutton birds on Gold Coast beaches left a lot of residents wondering why. On the worst days in October and November, early birds doing their morning beach walk would pass a dead bird every few meters – more like a Hells Highway of bird corpses than the famed glitter […]
Vietnam whale temples: Sites of worship and research
The road to the whale temple on the point winds through the quiet fishing village of Mui Ne, then climbs up a white sandy path to where the temple looks across the bay. We park the Hondas and wait for the temple keeper to arrive. The famous red sand hills of Mui Ne colour the […]
Vietnam survey reveals rhino horn (sung te giac) gifting trend
Buyers and users of rhino horn primarily consider it a status symbol that is often used as a gift to business colleagues or people in positions of authority, a survey in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has found. The research also shows there is a large group of people beyond the current buyers who […]
Saigon Horn: A TCM doctor’s perspective of sung te giac
Early this year on a visit to Vietnam I interviewed a university trained Traditional Medicine Doctor at a respected clinic in HCMC. Though he shares the same medical views on rhino horn as the generations of doctors in Vietnam and China that have practiced before him, he says rhino poaching is stupid and should stop. […]
Rescuing the Sumatran Rhino: Fixing a fragmented population
Wildlife inventories can be a shocking reality check, especially when extinction looks near. Early this year, Sumatran Rhino conservationists were shocked when population estimates of Sumatran rhino dropped from 300 to less than 100. They called an emergency summit in April in Singapore because the population of about 80 in Sumatra is so fragmented by […]
The Tao of Saigon Horn:Part Two
But Ellis says it is “not the use of animal parts per se that is the problem – it is the slaughter of animals for what might be specious applications, or worse, the slaughter of critically endangered species”. The solution he offers is: “Even those who have used animal parts for thousands of years […]