Paula Kahumbu: The sale of rhino horn in South Africa
won’t help save rhinos, but it will benefit organised crime
Paula Kahumbu is CEO of the NGO Wildlife Direct and a
campaigner for elephants and wildlife.
Friday 25 August 2017 06.05 BSTLast modified on
Friday 25 August 2017 11.50 BST
South Africa has just launched the first ever legal rhino horn
auction. If you are based in South Africa and would like to buy some rhino horn
you can place your bid
here.
This is not a government auction, although it is sanctioned by
the South African government. It has been organised by private rhino rancher,
John Hume, who took the government to court and won the right to sell 265 rhino
horns weighing about 500 kg. Trade in rhino horn is illegal in most countries,
but the black market value of one kilogram is said to be USD 100,000—more than
the price of platinum.
The astronomical price of rhino horn is driven by demand in
Asia that has fuelled the current epidemic of rhino poaching in South Africa.
Rhino deaths from poaching have risen from almost zero ten years ago to more
than 1,000 per
year since 2013.
Rhinos are listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which means that horns
cannot be legally taken out of South Africa into any other CITES member state.
So this auction is targeting buyers in South Africa … even though there is no
market there for rhino horn. What is going on?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!