A signing programme aimed towards ending the use of rhino horns launched by the Centre of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE) in conjunction with Save the WildAid has achieved positive results after a month since it was launched with over 30,000 signatures collected.

The programme is one of many activities under the Stop Using Rhino Horn Campaign 2015, aiming to raise the awareness of Vietnamese people on the real effects of harvesting rhino horns and calling on the community to take action in protecting rhinos around the world, which are threatened with extinction.

After a month, the programme has received nearly 30,000 signatures strongly affirming the commitment to refrain from using rhino horns in consumer products and medicines.

With help from the media and support of the public, the Stop Using Rhino Horn campaign is expected to raise the awareness that rhino horn is structurally similar to human nails and hair, and has no curative effects of cancer and other incurable diseases, as well as curbing the consumption and sale of rhino horns in Vietnam in the coming time to protect the species from becoming extinct.

Nearly 70 artists and celebrities from different fields have been actively involved in the programme, especially Vietnamese-American Hollywood star Maggie Q during her visit to Vietnam last April. They have helped spread the message of the programme, as well as passionately sharing their view through articles on social networks and participating in events in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Also under the framework of the campaign, more than 1,000 students from seven universities in Ho Chi Minh City have organised exhibitions as well as nail painting and photography contests to call young people to spread the message of saving the rhinos.

An entry from the nail polish contest, raising awareness for the protection of rhino’s.

Besides, a nail polish contest to raise the awareness that rhino horn is structurally similar to human nails and hair has received enthusiastic response from the public with 121 quality entries.

The website http://www.wildaidvietnam.org/cuutegiac will continue to receive signatures from the community with the aim of protecting rhinos in the coming time.

It is reported that at present, China and Vietnam are considered the world's largest market for rhino horn consumption. According to statistics, only in the last 45 years, the number of rhinos in the world fell by nearly 70%; only 25,000 rhinos still exist in the wild. In 2014 alone, there were 1,215 rhino individuals killed to meet the demand of Asian countries, including Vietnam (up nearly 10% compared to 2007).

The last living rhino in Vietnam was killed for its horn in 2010. Experts warn that rhinos will be extinct within the next six years if rhino poaching is not curbed in time.

Nhan Dan