From The Economist:

Only eight specimens of the northern white rhino are left alive on the planet, and they are all in captivity. The handful that remained in the wild in Congo have not been seen in years; they are almost certainly dead. A final effort to save the sub-species earlier this year saw four northern whites shipped from a zoo in the Czech Republic to the Ol Pejeta conservancy on the Laikipia reserve in Kenya... When President Theodore Roosevelt came to east Africa in 1909 an estimated 300,000 rhinos roamed the region. Now there are perhaps 2,000. The problem is not that the rhinos are half-blind, lumbering, and often infertile—which they are. It is economic: the ornamental and medicinal value of rhino horn makes it hard for the rhino to pay its way alive. The value of rhino horn in China, ounce for ounce, is higher than gold. It is likely to keep rising with an ageing population; in Chinese medicine the horn is ground into a powder to alleviate fevers and pain, particularly for terminally ill patients. With more Chinese contractors working in Africa, the risk of poaching seems to have increased. Market forces are insistent. Even at Ol Pejeta, which is protected by electric fences and armed guards, the horns of the four northern whites have had to be filed down to limit the risk of poaching. An inside job at one private ranch in Kenya last Christmas saw a rhino killed and its horns hacked off. The Kenya Wildlife Service later tracked down the culprits and recovered the horns, along with $8,500 in cash the poachers had been paid, with the balance payable on delivery. Sold in 10g increments in Guangzhou, the seven kilos of horn would be worth $250,000.

According to the report (pdf) from the World Wildlife Fund, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and TRAFFIC (a group that monitors the global trade of wildlife), foreign cartels are arming the poachers with equipment such as GPS, night vision, thermal goggles, helicopters, and weapons. While Rhino horns have been poached to be used as ceremonial dagger handles in the Middle East, the current "illegal rhinoceros horn trade to destinations in Asia is driving this killing, with growing evidence of the ongoing involvement of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai nationals in the illicit procurement and transport of rhinoceros horn out of Africa."

Just a few months ago, poachers butchered the last adult rhinoceros at the Krugersdorp Game Reserve in South Africa.

"We’ve had rhinos here for 20 years," Japie Mostert told the Star on Thursday from the Krugersdorp Game Reserve, 60 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg. "She was the last one." The nine-year-old rhino at the 1,400-hectare reserve was likely attacked by poachers who hovered in a helicopter, shot her with a tranquillizer dart then leapt out and sliced her horn off with a chainsaw, Mostert said. "The whole operation would take seven to 10 minutes." The animal’s female calf had been killed by poachers in January; her nine-month-old male calf was taken to a different reserve for sanctuary after the killing on July 14, he said. It would take "a guard working day and night" to protect the rhinoceroses, which are being slaughtered at a record rate across South Africa, he said.

Since 1970, 90 percent of the world's rhinos have disappeared. Given that kind of backdrop, it leads desperate people to desperate measures. Ed Hern, owner of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa is experimenting with injecting Rhino horns with cyanide.

From Scientific American:

With rhinoceros poaching in Africa approaching an all-time high, one nature preserve owner has had enough. Ed Hern, owner of the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa, is experimenting with injecting cyanide into his rhinos' horns. He believes the poison will not harm the rhinos, because there are no blood vessels in the horn to carry the poison the rest of the rhino's body. But if anyone kills the animals and sells the horns for use in traditional Asian medicine, the end-consumer could pay the ultimate price. "The aim would be to kill, or make seriously ill anyone who consumes the horn," Hern told Sky News. He also hopes this could help disrupt the market for illegal rhino horns. "If someone in China eats it and gets violently sick, they are not going to buy it again," he said. Trade in rhino horns is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but that has not eliminated the market or opportunities for poachers and smugglers.

Save the Rhino Director Cathy Dean posted a statement on the group's website saying, that while the idea has some validity & offers some alternatives to cyanide that could be used, the primary concern would be that it could lead to attempted murder charges.

In many of the nations dealing with poachers attacking protected animals, the local laws allow for "shoot-to-kill" when dealing with poachers caught in the act. In turn, some nature reserves have Special Air Service (SAS) veterans training the staff.

From The Times of London:

At least one British organisation, Care for the Wild International (CWI), is buying military-style field equipment and supporting the deployment of armed guards, while the US-based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has bought night-vision supplies and light aircraft. WWF, formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund, has hired former SAS soldiers to train African wildlife wardens, and the Zoological Society of London is funding elephant-mounted patrols to protect rhinos in Nepal. The trend towards militarisation follows an estimated 150 deaths among game wardens in Africa in gunfights with poachers... "We have to keep talking but so far, against a backdrop of catastrophic population declines of key species, there is little to show for it," said Dominic Dyer, chairman of CWI. "These animals are being wiped out by poachers who are increasingly well equipped with automatic weapons, GPS satellites, night-vision kit and heat-seeking telescopes to spot animals at night. That means we also need a more robust approach to enforcement, so we are supplying kit, ranging from boots and clothing to night-vision goggles and military-style vehicles. We are also deploying armed escorts. Wardens need that kind of support to go up against people with machineguns and assault rifles." The tough approach follows a sharp rise in poaching in Africa and Asia. In 1979 there were 1.3m African elephants, but recent counts suggest there are now just 400,000.

But some object to "shoot-to-kill" conservation, claiming it's a violation of human rights.

From Voice of America: