Don't worry, everyone's favorite "RINO" Ron Paul is still doing just dandy—but according to MSNBC, a group of anti-poaching conservationists in South Africa accidentally killed the real rhinoceros they were using to demonstrate how to protects rhinos from poachers.
The 20-year-old rhino, named Spencer, was shot with a tranquilizer gun in front of a crowd of reporters by members of the Rhino Rescue Project, who were documenting a process used to identify protected animals, and deter poachers from killing them for their horns. After he was tranquilized, Spencer's horn was to be treated with a dye and an insecticide, and a tracking device was going to be inserted as well.
Unfortunately, Spencer never woke up: "The rhino had an unfortunate reaction to the anesthesia," said Rhino Rescue Project spokeswoman Lorinda Hern. "Every time you dart a rhino, you take a risk that the rhino might not wake up and unfortunately today was one of those days." Maybe they could have just used life-like sculptures?
A record 448 rhinos were killed by poachers last year in South Africa, home to the greatest number of the animals. Hern says she blames Spencer's death on those poachers: "It's sad for us; it's the loss of another animal. It's a death that I still chalk up to poaching." Next time, maybe they should take a page from zoo keepers and police at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, and do all their homework on rhinos before messing with them:
