NAIROBI — Kenyan Wildlife Service officials say armed poachers shot and killed a white rhino and cut off its horn in Nairobi National Park, the first poaching death of a rhino in the urban park in six years.
The killing brings to 35 the number of rhinos killed in Kenya so far this year, a sharp rise from the 29 killed in total in 2012.
Nairobi resident Chris Donohue said Tuesday that he and his family saw the poached rhino during a safari drive on Sunday. Donohue said the sighting was "pretty traumatic" and showed how endangered rhinos are.
Animal experts worry that Africa's rhinos and elephants could face extinction unless the demand in Asia for rhino horn and elephant ivory is curbed.
Poachers kill rhino in Nairobi National Park
FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012 file photo, a white rhino grazes in Nairobi National Park, Kenya. Alarmed that rebel militias could be profiting from a sharp increase in the poaching of elephants and rhinos, the U.S. plans to step up efforts to build a global coalition to combat the illegal wildlife trade, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)