As a big fan of Avatar, I recently took time to watch the newly released Way of Water, and if nothing else, the scene of humans brutally killing Tukun in order to make money makes me think of what happened to the rhinoceros, which is really sad!
1. The magical effects of rhino horn
It is said that as of 2022, only the last northern white rhino remains. China also lost its last wild rhino in 1922, what caused the wild rhino to be in danger?
In East Asian countries such as China and South Korea, rhino horn is used as a traditional medicinal herb to cure diseases. In Arab countries, rhino horn is seen as a symbol of social rank; In some other countries, rhino horn is used to make the handle of a dagger. A refined rhinoceros horn dagger was worth twelve thousand dollars.
Ancient mainland Li Shizhen once believed that rhinoceros horn is an extremely rare panacea, which can cure various diseases such as typhoid fever, fever, cold, convulsions and so on.
Since ancient times, it has been believed that rhino horn is a precious medicinal herb, and it has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying medicine. In Vietnam, some people even believe that rhino horn can treat cancer.
Human greed for rhino horn has caused the price of rhino horn to soar, and there is no harm without buying and selling, and rhinos have become the focus of poachers.
Less than 1 pound of rhino horn can sell for $60,000 on the black market, several times more expensive than the same weight of gold
2. Mass carnage brought by huge profits
With such huge profits, those poachers have turned into hellish demons. In 2015 alone, poachers killed 1,338 rhinos in Africa.
Researchers once found a rhinoceros that had suffered injuries, and although the rhinoceros was still alive when it was discovered, the cruel poachers cut off half of its face in order to take the rhino horn!
When it was discovered, half of its remaining face was covered with maggots, and it was better to live than to die. People tried everything they could to revive it, but in the end, the rhino died after suffering so much that it shouldn't have suffered.
Some people will wonder, can't a rhinoceros live without rhino horns? Why dump the pot all over to humans? But in fact, many poachers will hunt rhinos directly in order to obtain rhino horn, even if they are not dead, they are almost half dead.
And these became accomplices in the extinction of rhinos.
3. What happens in the future?
Some researchers hope to use 3D printing technology to save rhinos: by copying rhino DNA, mixing inorganic substances, metals, minerals and other proteins, and then finding ways to adjust the proportion to be as large as the actual size to replace rhino horn, so as to save rhinos.
Countries have also begun to tighten controls and punish poachers, hoping to ease some of this.
Many people also have their own views on this approach, but in fact, in front of the earth, which has a life span of 4.6 billion years, human beings are just a smelly child in front of the earth, no matter how much society progresses, human beings should not lack respect for nature, James Cameron probably also recognizes this, with the help of this movie to warn each of us.