Rhino poaching for horn destined for Asian markets has driven populations to the brink of extinction. The suffering of poached rhinos is extreme — they are typically killed by slow blood loss or infection from gunshot wounds.
Rhinos that survive initial gunshot wounds face days of suffering before dying from blood loss, infection or predation. Horn-removal from live rhinos under anaesthesia is welfare-costly but may be preferable to poaching death — the ethics remain genuinely contested. The only sustainable solution is demand reduction in consumer markets combined with robust anti-poaching law enforcement.