Activists warn against online rhino horn auction
Publish date: 15 August 2017
Issue Number: 520
Diary: Legalbrief Environmental
Category: Conservation
Conservation organisations have reacted strongly to a farmer's plan to sell rhino horn in an online auction later this month, writes Legalbrief. John Hume, a South African farmer who owns more than 1 500 rhinos said the revenue will be used to fund the breeding and protection of rhinos. However, The Mercury reports that conservation experts have warned that limited legal trade in rhino horns would lead to increased poaching and trafficking. It is a major setback in tackling trafficking in wildlife, a renowned wildlife advocate said. ‘We see this as very dangerous and threatening the future existence of rhinos in many countries,’ said US-based global advocacy Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) vice-president for international policy, Susan Lieberman. She said lifting the ban on domestic trade with the aim of helping to generate revenue for private reserve owners would be a ‘major setback’ in efforts to curb trafficking and poaching. ‘There is no market to speak of in SA. Allowing these sales would undercut enforcement efforts in other African countries with rhinos, and those where horn is trafficked, besides China, Vietnam, and other Asian countries,’ she said. On the argument that it would help raise money for conserving rhinos, she said it was ‘a commercial venture, and there is no evidence it would benefit conservation’. ‘Many countries and NGOs are working hard to change consumer purchasing behaviour in Asia, for example, and this would undermine those efforts,’ she said.
And, global animal protection organisation, Humane Society International’s (HSI) Vietnam branch, is calling on the SA Government to honour its commitment to protect rhinos by refusing permits for an online auction of rhinoceros horns. It said it ‘appears to be targeting buyers from the world’s two largest destinations for trafficked rhino horn, China and Vietnam’. According to a News24 report, Humane Society International said the auction by John Hume – the world’s largest rhino farmer – is listed on a website with both a Vietnamese and Chinese language option in addition to English. The HSI believes ‘there is a significant risk that horns from this auction, even if purchased legally in SA, may end up being trafficked to Asian consumer markets by organised criminal syndicates’. Similarly, local conservationists have also asked ‘why anyone would want to buy rhino horn if it could not be onsold illegally to dealers in Asia where it’s worth more per kilogram than gold or heroin?’ HSI warned that the auction ‘comes at a time when rhino poaching is at crisis point, with poachers killing 1 054 rhinos in SA last year’. It notes that ‘any trade such as this auction will encourage poaching, and that any exported horns will be difficult, if not impossible, to monitor’. HSI’s Africa executive director, Audrey Delsink, said: ‘SA’s legalised domestic rhino horn trade is a disaster waiting to happen.’
Five years into the fight against rhino poaching in SA, and the organisers of Investec Rhino Lifeline say they are still far from done. According to a Cape Argus report, they have pumped R12m into the project so far. Education and awareness have been identified as the strongest focus areas in the poaching crisis according to Tanya dos Santos, the head of Rhino Lifeline. Investec has spent R8.1m on education, R3.5m on rescues and R600 000 on reducing the demand for rhino horn. This year Rhino Lifeline partnered with WildAid which brought Chinese art collector and celebrity Ma Weidu on board as an ambassador for elephant and rhino. Through this partnership, Ma travelled to South Africa in June to experience conservation efforts first-hand. Ma is now using his influence among antique collectors in China to promote anti-poaching campaigns as well as dispelling the myth that there is any medicinal value in rhino horn. Rhino Lifeline has also partnered with two organisations that help with educating the youth. The Coaching for Conservation programme is a six week after-school course where children are taught the characteristics of the animal while also learning valuable lessons in maths and English. The other educational partnership is with the Good Work Foundation which has set up digital learning centres for rural communities to further their education and pursue a wildlife career. Since its inception, 6 400 children have passed through these educational programmes.
Meanwhile, the fight against rhino horn smuggling continues. The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, has congratulated members of the Environmental Management Inspectorate, also known as the Green Scorpions, for their assistance in the arrest of an alleged rhino horn smuggler at OR Tambo International Airport last week. According to a News24 report, the DEA said a Zimbabwean woman (30) was arrested after suspicious items were noticed by private security personnel during scanning of her check-in luggage. She was reported to customs officials who, in turn, called the Green Scorpions to assist with identification of the items. The horns were found hidden amongst electronic items in a suitcase. The confiscated rhino horn will be subjected to genetic profiling by the Forensic Science Laboratory of the SAPS, to determine the origin of the rhinoceros horn or possible links to other investigations.
In another gruesome rhino attack, poachers last week struck at a game farm in the Jeffreys Bay area where they killed and dehorned two rhinos and wounded a third. A report in The Herald notes that police spokesperson Captain Gerda Swart confirmed the attack, but gave very few details. Swart referred all queries to Johan Lottering, owner of the Lombardini Game Farm between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp. Lottering said he had just returned from an overseas trip when he received a call about the tragedy. He said two rhinos had been shot and dehorned, while a third had been wounded and was receiving treatment. Lottering added that the third rhino was expected to make a full recovery. In April 2015, a rhino cow and her calf were killed on the same game farm. This attack was the first time that poachers had struck west of Nelson Mandela Bay and came despite Lombardini’s efforts to implement a dehorning programme to reduce the risks of poaching. ‘The only way you are going to curb poaching is if you legalise the sale of rhino horn under a strict regulated environment. This will create incentives for rhino breeders and create a legitimate avenue for those who are after the product,’ a News24 report quotes Lottering as saying. ‘As things stand now, the only way I can possibly protect my rhino is by putting a guard next to each of them every day, and that is simply not possible,’ he said. Under the current conditions he could no longer afford to keep rhino on his property and would be selling the remaining animals on his farm, he explained.
