Every year on September 22, World Rhino Day tries to raise awareness of the plight facing five threatened rhino species. But events were overshadowed by the news that a record-breaking 688 rhinos have been killed so far this year in South Africa – 20 more than the whole of last year. According to the WWF, illegal poaching has increased by 5,000 per cent in South Africa since 2007. This is because of a boom in demand from east Asia for powdered rhino horn, which is believed to cure everything from high fevers to hangovers and cancer to impotence. - Halil