Roxanne Reid
  • Home
  • Book author
    • Travels in the Kalahari >
      • Photo gallery: Travels in the Kalahari
      • Book reviews: Travels in the Kalahari
    • A Walk in the Park >
      • Photo gallery: A Walk in the Park
      • Book reviews: A Walk in the Park
    • The Essential Guide to Self-Editing >
      • Book reviews: Essential Guide to Self-Editing
    • Betrayed
    • Book reviews online
  • Editing & proofreading
  • In the media
    • Travel features
    • Health features
    • Online media
    • Media kit
  • Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Links
  • Contact

Lifting the ban on trade in rhino horn – problem or solution?

3/5/2011

2 Comments

 
I last looked at the thorny problem of rhino poaching in South Africa in September 2010 (see blog post here) but since then another possible solution has been suggested and could do with an airing.

In what might seem an unusual move, the South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association (SAHGCA) has said that the only realistic way to stop the killing of rhinos in South Africa is for CITES to lift the ban on the international trade in rhino horn from South Africa.

At the launch of its Rhino Alive! conservation initiative in mid-April, the association claimed that this would put a higher value on the live animal and curb poaching, allowing rhinos to be protected at the same time as meeting international demand for rhino horn in a sustainable way.

As we all know by now, 333 rhinos were poached in South Africa last year – a shocking figure that equates to nearly a rhino a day. For 2011 the figure is already nudging 140, (138 on 26 April) despite herculean efforts to rein in poaching that is vicious and cruel, leaving animals maimed and in pain or most often dead. 

Dr Herman Els, SAHGCA’s manager for conservation, believes it’s impractical to try to change a 5000-year-old belief system in Asia that sees rhino horn as an integral part of traditional muti.  ‘The only viable option we have to keep rhinos alive is to allow the harvesting and trade of rhino horn in a controlled manner,’ he says. ‘A rhino’s horn grows back without two to three years, which means that the same animal can reproduce its horn several times in its lifetime, without any harm to the animal itself.’

Well, not quite. It’s true that the horn grows back (it is, after all, only keratin like your hair or fingernails). But I disagree that  cutting some off would be ‘without any harm’ to the animal. Perhaps if rhino were being ‘farmed’ in a protected environment like a small game farm this might be true. But for wild rhino in Kruger or Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, for instance, the horn is a handy weapon that also plays an important role in social structure and behaviour. Territorial males use their horns to keep rivals in check and young bachelors spar with theirs, practising for one day when they get a chance to challenge the big mkulu. Even the females use their horns to defend their little ones against predators or unwanted males looking to make trouble.

Say an adult rhino horn weighs five kilos and a kilo sells for R400 000 on the black market, then we’re talking about a value of R2 million. This is much more than the R300 000 to R400 000 that a live animal fetches at auction. It’s been suggested that legal, managed trade might bring the price of horn down, flattening the price difference, and that this – in theory at least – might make poaching a less alluring job option because the pay-off would be so much less.

Of course, legalising the trade in rhino horn isn’t much good if transparent and traceable systems can’t be put into action. In that case, all that would happen is that the good guys would comply with the new rules and standards while the bad guys, as always, would simply find new loopholes and ways to circumvent the law.

DNA profiling of rhinos might be a first step in the right direction. The Veterinary Genetic Laboratory at the University of Pretoria is setting up a database of DNA profiles of all rhinos and rhino horn in both public and private hands in South Africa. Called RhODIS, it should help to identify each individual and its horn. Most importantly, it could provide incontrovertible evidence to trace poached horn and, by upping the conviction rate of poachers, help to curtail illegal hunting. 

That all sounds promising, but lifting the trade ban isn’t something we should do without a whole lot of serious thought. For one thing, wouldn't it look at some level like an endorsement of the consumption of rhino horn? And wouldn't that undermine educational campaigns trying to convince people (read: wealthy Asians with more money than sense) that the horn has no special medical or magical properties?

Wouldn’t it be better to bump up anti-poaching efforts by improving security (already the SANDF’s intervention in the Kruger National Park is yielding dividends) and intelligence to crack down on poaching and the illegal trade? If whispers about diplomats using their immunity to smuggle horn out of the country are true, for instance, that’s a serious loophole that needs to be stitched up – and fast.

Finally, harsher punishment needs to be meted out – not just to the poor saps who get caught red-handed but also to the big tycoons with big money who are behind it all. Although a 20-year sentence recently handed down to two poachers was applauded by anti-poaching campaigners, only five years of that sentence was for killing the rhino; the rest was for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Legalise, don’t legalise … solution or another problem in the making? What’s your verdict?


Copyright ©Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
2 Comments
Meggan Spires
20/1/2012 06:21:33 am

Thanks for the great article.
Was signing onto an anti rhino poaching petition and a they ask a mandatory Q re agreement or disagreement with legalising rhino horn trade, your article helped me to make an informed decision. It's tragic what is going on - but the solutions are complex.

Reply
Roxanne
20/1/2012 08:20:18 am

Complex indeed. Educating people about rhino horns' lack of medicinal properties is a good place to start, but it's fraught with cultural obstacles.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Get email links to the latest posts

    Buy my books
    E-book 2017
    2nd ed e-book 2015
    E-book 2012​

    About 

    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
    Since 2015, travel buddy and husband Keith has been the primary photographer for this blog.
    We're happiest in the middle of nowhere, meeting the locals, trying something new, or simply watching the grass grow.
    In this blog you can discover new places to go, revisit places you've loved, or take a virtual tour of destinations you only dream about.

    Popular posts 

    * Top 5 favourite national parks in South Africa
    ​
    * 15 things to do in Paternoster on the West Coast
    ​​* 15 things to do near Knysna on the Garden Route
    * 8 things to do and see in Sutherland
    * 15 things to do in Hermanus on the Cape Whale Coast
    *​ 17 things to do in Tulbagh, Cape Winelands
    ​​​
    ​Other blogs I write for
    Africa Freak
    Africa Geographic
    Getaway
    Untold Africa

    Categories

    All
    Baviaanskloof
    Berg En Dal Kruger
    Books
    Botswana
    Camping
    Cape Town
    Chobe
    Conservation
    Drc
    Eastern Cape
    Etosha Namibia
    Food
    Free State
    Garden Route
    Gauteng
    Guest Blogs
    Issues
    Kalahari
    Karoo
    Kenya
    Kruger National Park
    Kwazulu Natal
    Lesotho
    Letaba Kruger
    Limpopo
    Linyanti
    Malawi
    Mozambique
    Mpumalanga
    Namaqualand
    Namibia
    Nature Parks
    Northern Cape
    Okavango
    Olifants Kruger
    Overberg
    People
    Photography
    Richtersveld
    Satara Kruger
    Tanzania
    Travel
    Tsendze Kruger
    Videos
    West Coast
    Western Cape
    Wild Creatures
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe

    Archives

    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009


Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without written permission from roxannereid.co.za

Privacy Policy and GDPR compliance
​* We promise that we take data safety seriously and use your private data only to offer a personalised experience
* If you subscribed to our newsletter, you will receive our newsletters. You can always unsubscribe by following the link in email or by emailing us
* If you gave us your name, it will only be used to personalise the newsletters
* We have never sold, we are not selling, and we will not sell any of your personal data provided to us
* The blog uses cookies to track activity. It is anonymous except for telling us your location and what you did on our blog
​
Photos used under Creative Commons from berniedup, Lucy_Hill