South Africa Studying Proposal to Legalize Rhino Trade

July 23, 2012

Some South African conservationists and owners of wildlife reserves are advocating for the legalization of the rhino horn trade, which is currently banned by an international treaty. The proposed plan would entail selling only horns from rhinos that died of natural causes and using the profits to fund anti-poaching efforts.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, a record 448 rhinos were poached in 2011 and more than half that number already have been killed illegally so far this year.

Pelham Jones, the chairman of South Africa’s Private Rhino Owners Association, said the South African government does not have the resources to stop poachers from killing this endangered species for its horns.

They are worth more than their weight in gold for use in some traditional Asian medicines.

“We can double, we can triple our security measures,” said Jones. “We cannot sustain the level of protection of our rhino, especially not when one looks at the value that rhino horns are being sold for in the Far East.”

Jones represents a group of rhino owners and conservationists who now say the best way to save the rhino is to lift the ban on the rhino horn trade.

“We are talking here not of going out and killing rhinos for their horns. South Africa has over 25 tons of horns in stockpiles. These are horns from animals that died of natural causes, horns that broke off during relocation,” he said.