Start Selling Rhino Horn NOW!

thefynbosguy - The Fynbos Guy in South Africa, News & Current Affairs, Wildlife

June 07th, 2011 at 1:37pm

Tags: Conservation, Rhino

15 comments

Alert me by email when a new comment is added

Bookmark this post

Report blog as inappropriate

Add a comment

Recent Comments

• 1: 

  Thanks Fynbos Guy for this informative article. It’s maddening to hear how poorly the human treats animals for their own personal gain. It’s time for everyone to get involved to protect our wildlife and planet. I keep an eye on these 2 organisations if anyone is looking for a way to help or create awareness.
  http://www.savingrhinos.org/
  http://www.savetherhino.org/eTargetSRINM/site/536/default.aspx

  
  Kate-Erskine

  June 07th, 2011 at 2:00pm

  
  
• 2: 

  The poaching of Rhinos is sickening!! It seems like a strange solution but it doesn’t seem like anything else is working. So maybe this is an option to consider.
  It is actually pointless in killing all the pawns on the ground, meanwhile back at the ranch the big guns are just sending out new ones. This is what makes it so difficult as these evil-minded, money-hungry creeps just keep on getting away with it!
  Please God, protect our Rhinos.

  
  Jonelle Louw

  June 07th, 2011 at 2:08pm

  
  
• 3: 

  Exactly Jonelle - arresting the poachers may make us feel better but it merely makes way for a new bunch. There’s never a shortage of impoverished and desperate people who will take the risks for what they see as a substantial reward. Moreover, as the rhino population decreases, demand will increase and the rewards will get greater. Drastic times call for drastic measures.

  
  thefynbosguy

  June 07th, 2011 at 2:14pm

  
  
• 4: 

  And the big guns back at the ranch doesn’t even care about the lives of people being lost here - let alone the rhinos!

  
  Jonelle Louw

  June 07th, 2011 at 2:18pm

  
  
• 5: 

  As I read this article, I felt deeply ashamed and frustated at how bad it has become! It should have never taken a turn for the worse! Articles such as this makes me feel saddened to form part of a partially ignorant society. I can only hope that the South African Conversation efforts show results soon, as it has in previous years - I bought my “Save the Rhino Bag”, but that will not be enough! I agree, that it should be regulated by “natural mortality and stock piles as well as professional hunting”. It seems that there are no other options. Take away the high demand!

  Thanks you fynbosguy, for stating the facts - it is a good wake up call.

  
  Kaashifa Shabodien

  June 07th, 2011 at 3:34pm

  
  
• 6: 

  Yes, I’m afraid things like buying a Save the Rhino bag isn’t going to do anything. Either the army must move entire battalions into game reserves and treat poaching as a national security threat or the trade gets legalised.

  
  thefynbosguy

  June 07th, 2011 at 3:50pm

  
  
• 7: 

  I do not agree that starting to sell rhino horn from natural mortality and stock piles as well as professional hunting is the solution to the rhino poaching problem. This way we only create a greater demand for rhino horn by condoning its use. It has been scientifically proven that rhino horn has no medicinal properties, no curative benefits, and no magical powers. So why sell it in the first place? Why legalising rhino horn trade if the use is totally based on a myth? And what is more, it will set a precedent for the legalisation of e.g. ivory and skins of protected species.
  The solution must lie in education (stopping the belief that rhino horn has useful medicinal properties), building stronger international relationships based on e.g. CITES and giving rhinos more protection in Southern Africa. Surely it cannot be based on fraternising with the enemy.

  
  Louise (Baobab Travel)

  June 07th, 2011 at 5:33pm

  
  
• 8: 

  I agree with Louise’s points above. To legalise the sale of rhino horn, either from natural wastage or legalised hunting, is to condone the idiocy of the unfounded myth that has built up around its non existent medicinal properties.

  There is some inconsistency in the well written blog above and your answer to Jonelle above where you mention “impoverished and desperate people who will take the risks”. The blog depicts one of the gangs who do not fit this description. My understanding is that this crime is perpetrated by well resourced poaching gangs supplying a wealthy but uninformed market.

  If this recent surge in poaching is due to a rumour in Vietnam that a government minister used rhino horn to cure his cancer then this minister should be exposed and made to recind the nonsense. Can the SA government not put diplomatic pressure on the Vietnamese government to publically debunk the rhino horn myth. I accept this seems to be widely ingrained into the Asian culture but for SA to buy into it and legalise the sale of horn based on mythology would be a victory for stupidity.

  
  Paul Giess

  June 07th, 2011 at 8:16pm

  
  
• 9: 

  Great commentary Louise and Paul, thank you.
  While I admit that legalising the trade is bitterly controversial and in some ways condones the practice, my main concern is that time is running out for the rhino. The ‘education solution’ put forward by Louise and Paul is obviously the long term answer, and has been proven to work in, say, the rejection of ivory by the West after decades of lobbying, but - as Paul points out - the use of rhino horn is so deeply ingrained in the Asian culture that I really don’t think we have the time and resources to ‘re-educate’ an entire culture.
  Louise further questions the legitimacy of selling a product based on a myth: I’m the first person to argue that there is no medicinal value in rhino horn but it’s a specious argument to say that the trade is thus redundant - if people want to waste their money on a worthless commodity, let them - it won’t be the first time in the history of trade. And will it set a precedent? I simply don’t know but I don’t think that should be used as a reason to completely reject the legalisation of rhino horn trade.
  And to answer Paul’s query about the make up of gangs, perhaps I didn’t articulate it well: my point was that there are indeed these sophisticated and well-resourced gangs - organised crime to you and me - but the majority of the guns on the ground are held by the impoverished and desperate people to whom I alluded.
  I do like Paul’s final point - I have been unable to substantiate the cancer-curing rumour but it is definitely out there. I agree completely that the SA Govt should be making every effort to force the Vietnamese Govt to refute the claim, debunk the myth and make the minister (if it is true) publically recind his claim.
  Thanks for the feedback - we’re all on the same side.

  
  thefynbosguy

  June 08th, 2011 at 9:23am

  
  
• 10: 

  You are right, we are on the same side, but I think there are some further, unfortunately rather tricky, issues & concerns to consider with the legalizing of the rhino horn trade. Concerns that were also raised when in the late 1990’s the ban on ivory sales was lifted and Namibia, Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe started selling of 100’s of tons of tusks that were collected from elephants that died of natural causes or those that were killed in population management schemes.
  At the time, scientists and conservation groups raised the concern that the sudden influx of ivory on to the Japanese and Chinese markets would make it very easy for poachers to smuggle illegal tusks and pass them off as legally obtained. As it is very difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal ivory, as it would be for rhino horn, this can easily lead to increased poaching. In Tanzania for example, the elephant population declined by more than 30,000 elephants between 2006 and 2009, primarily from poaching to supply black-market ivory to Asia. It is however very hard to prove a causal connection between the legalisation of ivory and the increase in elephant poaching.
  An additional concern is how the funds raised from legal ivory or rhino horn trade will be used. In principle, it makes total sense to invest this back into conservation of the species. However how can we enforce this? How can we guarantee that this money will not line the pockets of politicians, business people, and criminals alike?
  Sorry to raise more questions than solutions, but I believe these are realistic concerns that cannot be ignored.

  
  Louise (Baobab Travel)

  June 08th, 2011 at 12:51pm

  
  
• 11: 

  You raise important issues Louise - one of the great things about this kind of medium is the speed at which ideas can be shared.

  The ivory example is pertinent - I didn’t know about the Tanzanian elephant decline, but I can believe it. And therein lies the flaw with my solution: legalising the rhino horn trade may well lead to an increase in poaching given the impossibility of determining legal from illegal horn. To use a more local example, one may be able to buy bona fide cigarettes legally but there’s always the cheaper, stolen merchandise on the black market. And given the multiple layers of corruption in place now, who can say for sure that the entire trade will be transparent.

  What I can’t see however is the feasibility of the current approach to the scourge. What WILL it take to turn this around? We don’t have much time left. Do we seek a military solution (helicopter gunships, fire teams, ambushes) or push for a diplomatic one? Will Vietnam take us seriously? Is the solution the preserve of SANParks, the Ministry, the SADF or SAPS?

  Like you, I’m raising more questions.

  
  thefynbosguy

  June 08th, 2011 at 1:52pm

  
  
• 12: 

  I think it is healthy to sometimes have such heated debates as serious issues like these raise serious concerns. And the truth is there is never an easy answer to the problem.
  Education is key but so is time. Like conservation in general, culling, hunting, ivory trade, blood diamonds, arms deals, drugs, human trafficing and who knows what else, it is all frustrating and sickening - and ALWAYS easier said then done.
  Good comments and suggestions all round. This has to stop!!

  
  Jonelle Louw

  June 08th, 2011 at 7:00pm

  
  
• 13: 

  This is a group of guys that have decided to make a difference and prove that everyone can make a difference!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUGtrLB_k_U&feature=related
  http://www.stoprhinopoaching.com/have now joimed forces with them.
  Thanks for the article, and this is something taht needs to be seriously addressed.

  
  ArebbuschLodge

  June 20th, 2011 at 2:42pm

  
  
• 14: 

  Aquila Private Game Reserve have lost two rhino since the 20th August to poachers, a third rhino was injured but survived.

  ABSA the Rhino lost the battle for his life in the early hours of this morning.

  http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Aquila-rhino-dies-after-poaching-attack-20110825

  
  Vanessa

  August 25th, 2011 at 3:48pm

  
  
• 15: 

  Some good news on the Rhino front. A reserve in South Africa has been applying a treatment to their Rhino’s horns. It’s safe for the rhino, but can make a person very ill if they consume it. It also shows up bright pink under X-Ray if anyone tries to smuggle the horns (even in powder form). Lets hope this helps the fight against rhino poaching!

  http://www.news24.com/SciTech/News/Rhinos-fighting-back-with-own-muti-20110907

  
  kate-erskine

  September 08th, 2011 at 10:36am