Heritage day (24 September, Public Holiday), also known as National Braai Day as the result of a pointed 2005 media campaign, was not originally intended to be an official South African public holiday. But when the Inkatha Freedom Party, a political party with a large Zulu membership, refused to sign the Public Holiday’s Bill that was being presented to the Parliament of South Africa because it omitted the inclusion of Shaka Day, a day that commemorated the famous Zulu King Shaka, a concession was made.
Quite aptly, just as King Shaka was instrumental in uniting Zulu clans into a cohesive nation, Heritage Day (appointed in place of King Shaka Day) encourages South Africans to come together to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and the diversity of our rainbow nation.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela concisely explained it when he said the following in a Heritage Day speech: "When our first democratically-elected government decided to make Heritage Day one of our national days, we did so because we knew that our rich and varied cultural heritage has a profound power to help build our new nation”.
In 2020, the French National Assembly approved in the first instance by unanimous vote a law proposal regarding the return of cultural artifacts in two African countries, Benin and Senegal. According to the act, Benin will reclaim 26 artifacts that were looted in 1892, provided that a museum has been built and can be added to the collection. In addition, Senegal will recover the sabre of Haji Omar, an important military and religious figure in the 19th century, which has been stored in the Museum in Paris and is considered an integral part of the museum's exhibits. The French government loaned the combat sabre to the Museum of Black Culture in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, at the end of 2019. The new bill will allow Senegal to completely recover this precious cultural artifacts.
France's decision has sparked reflections by governments and museums worldwide on the colonial past and the social responsibilities of museums. However, visitors who have visited the British Museum are certain to ask a question, If artifacts are returned, then will the British Museum eventually be empty?
Indeed, this is a source of concern among those within the museum industry, and Julien Volper, an expert on French African art history, believes that the French government's move is a major threat to the indivisibility of museum exhibits. He also noted that these 26 artifacts will be returned to Benin thanks to the gifts from a private collector. This act will make the collector think twice before donating artifacts to museums in the future. Due to all these reasons, he proposed the government include the indivisibility of the artifacts kept in the French National Museum in the French Constitution and put a complete end to the issue returning the return of cultural artifacts.
Source: RFI Taiwan Culture Center
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, countries around the world have implemented lockdown policies, which have affected heavily to the African tourism industry. The disappearance of tourists has given rhino poachers the opportunity to start hunting rhinos in popular tourist areas.
Under the increasing poaching alerts, the UK conservation organization Aspinall Foundation, Rhino 911, and a national park management agency in Africa have collaborated to launch the "Rhino Rescue 2020" confidential operation, which aims to "dehorn" 400 rhinos in Africa within 15 days to protect them from poachers. The scale of this operation is unprecedented and highly confidential. This is to prevent poaching groups from learning about the operation and posing a huge risk. Therefore, the government has required all participants to keep their identities secret, even the national agencies cannot be informed.
How were these rhino horns? Which some Asian countries consider to have medicinal value and are more valuable than gold removed? The process is as follows:
1. Veterinarians will get on helicopters to search for rhinos.
2. After finding the rhinos, they will dart them with M99 tranquilizers from the helicopter.
3. First, observe and confirm that the rhinos are in a safe place and completely calm from the helicopter.
4. The helicopter then lands and the ground team approaches and starts dehorning while the veterinarian is keeping the rhinos stable.
5. The team will use chainsaws to remove the rhino horn.
6. According to international and government regulations, the rhino horns will be classified, weighed, and processed. At the same time, photos of the rhinos will be taken, DNA and other necessary samples will be collected. The entire dehorning process takes about 15-20 minutes.
8. The ground team leaves, and the veterinarian uses reversal agents to recover the rhino from being anesthetiged.
9. The helicopter takes off with the veterinarian, and they monitor the rhinos from the air to confirm that they can stand up and move without difficulties.
Will the rhinos be in danger without their horns, which they use to protect themselves? The action team stated that the only real predators that rhinos face are humans. Several studies have shown that dehorning does not have a negative impact on rhinos. Since their horns are made of keratin, the same component as human hair and nails, they will regrow within three years. The horns, which are worth about £15 million, along with the rhino's photos and information, will be managed by the wildlife conservation team or the conceives or parks.
This operation is not reckless. It was not only negotiated by numerous experts but also involved armed rangers employed by the government to ensure the safety of the team. The entire operation was launched and completed within 15 days, and the exact location was kept confidential until the end of the operation. The team involved in the operation consisted of about 40 people, and the estimated cost was £100,000. Derek Milburn, the regional director of the Aspinall Foundation, said, "Conservationists do not want to dehorn animals unless absolutely necessary, but in challenging times, we need to take practical measures."
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DNA is applied frequently on human especially regarding virus research and genetics issues. Estimated that 10,000 pangolins are hunted each year, it is one of the most threatened mannal species due to illegal hunting. Pangolin requires more accurate tracking and measures against illegal hunting. Scientists believe that DNA testing could assist in tracking the illegal activity.
The project was led by the French scientist Philippe Gaubert who targets to complete the DNA collection in 5 years’ time. It is believed the project can assist conservation organization to combat the illegal activity of pangolin from 3 prospectives: analyzing the number of pangolins hunted; the species involved; and their places of origin. The samples required for the initial stage of the project is from 2 sources: African markets and natural historical museums. However Philippe claimed that obtaining live samples for research purposes is extremely difficult. This is due to the elusive behavior of pangolins, making them hard to be found and that fact that many countries has already prohibited the export of pangolins, even for research purposes.
In fact, as early as 2016, Philippe and his team has used Mitochondrial DNA from 6 white-bellied pangolin from 6 African regions to differentiate unique genetic characteristics. Conservation geneticist Mr Haurong Zhang from Hong Kong used the information obtained from the above findings to examine 1,800 DNA samples from 30 confiscated pangolin scales in Hong Kong from Nigeria and Cameroon between 2012 and 2016. Over 80% of the DNA samples could be traced back to pangolins from the 6 African regions. Based on these results, it can be inferred that the scope of pangolin hunting in Africa is extensive, with hunters transporting their harvest to designated shipping hubs before distributing them worldwide. However, Haurong admits that the DNA project mentioned above fails to further narrow down to the specific pangolin origin. Higher-resolution genetic markers is required to achieve this purpose.
In light of the above findings, Philippe and his team are working on this DNA project using another type of genetic marker. In their research report released in May, they genotyped 24 white-bellied pangolins from Douala and identified 20 polymorphic microsatellite loci. By using these genetic markers, Philippe and his team are able to preliminarily identify those pangolins from the Ebo Forest near Douala. Despite this improvement, they are still studying the use of single nucleotide polymorphism for pangolin DNA testing, comparing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of this method to their original objective.