Thailand Death from Rhino Horn - HOAX

I had been hearing rumors about the man dying in Thailand after consuming poisoned rhino horn.  I looked around on the internet for an article.  Nothing seemed legit, but I did come across this article I've copied/pasted below.  I feel pretty amped up over this one... what is your opinion?  Feel free to leave a comment.  Thanks, Britt Hosmer Peterson Tuesday, 24 August 2010 19:46

ALEISHA TISSEN JOHANNESBURG - It’s a hoax; nobody has died after consuming poisoned rhino horn. Endangered Wildlife Trust Rhino Security Network’s Faan Coetzee yesterday put to rest rumours suggesting that a Bangkok man had died after purchasing “purposely contaminated” rhino horn on the black market. Coetzee He said the malicious information probably likely originated in South Africalocally, adding it is “unprofessional” to spread such untruths it. “Such false information has the potential to harm South Africa’s reputation and the fight against poaching. We are dealing with highly organised criminals who won’t fall for this, let’s be honest,” Coetzee told The Citizen. He said he had liaised with a contact in Thailand who confirmed the report was untrue adding Thai authorities were not on high alert for possible further poisonings. Reports on the supposed incident suggest the contaminated horn to be from a private game farm in the North West province. Ed Hern, owner of the Rhino and Lion Reserve in Krugersdorp made international world headlines recently with for his plan to lace his rhinos’ horns with cyanide. Hern confirmed he had heard rumours there had been a of the death in Bangkok. Hern added that following on legal advice, he had been persuaded not to use poison but to rather attempt to use a substance that would act as an irritant to the consumer. “An irritant is now being tested, the substance will make the consumer ill rather than killing them,” he said. Zulu Wildlife Forum’s Tim Condon commented on the rumour saying despite the ethical furore the poisoning of rhino horn could trigger, it was a “positive way to fight back to help save the rhino, no matter how illegal – after all, the poachers and the ‘rhino mafia’ and corrupt politicians or official’s’ acts are also very much illegal.” However, Coetzee said poisoning horn to tackle poaching was a highly illegal approach. “It will be murder if you purposely poison horn and someone dies as a result. We don’t need to be criminals to solve this problem,” he said. aleisha@citizen.co.za www.citizen.co.za