MUMBAI: Four Polish nationals who stole a stuffed rhinoceros head from an Austrian bar in an effort to cut off the horn have been arrested. The Poles reportedly did not realize during the theft that the head was actually a fake, with the head made from plastic and the horn from wood. Ironically, local Austrian media reported that the bar owner, Hans Tavolato, had claimed to patrons that he had shot the Rhino 20 years ago while on a trip in South Africa – and mounted it on the wall with other trophies from his hunting exhibitions. The truth was the head was a fake and weighed over 100 kilos. The four men broken into the bar in Weisskirchen in Styria, Austria and made off with the fake Rhino head – breaking off the fake horn and then dumping the rest in a children's playground. But the four were caught by police only one day later when they tried to break into another location where they hoped to get a rhino horn – attached to a stuffed animal at Schloss Rastenberg at Gmünd in Austria's Waldviertel. In the car used by the four police found the wooden rhino horn stolen in Styria – and arrested all four. Rhino horns in museums and private collections which can garner massive black market earnings because of their value in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese medicine. Poaching has also grown in recent years in South Africa, wildlife officials have repeatedly told Bikyamasr.com. They have said that the government has already begun to boost the number of rangers in the national preserves in an effort to end poaching. However, this year has already seen dozens of rhinos killed for their horns. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/fWjp2 Tags: Austria, Horn, Rhino, Theft Section: Animals, Europe, Latest News
