Call for rhino horn crisis talks

AP

In this Nov. 15, 2011 file photo, customs officers stand near seized rhino horns at the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department in Hong Kong when the Customs seized a total of 33 unmanifested rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks and 127 ivory bracelets, worth about HK$17 million (US$2.23 million), inside a container shipped to Hong Kong from Cape Town, South Africa. The Switzerland-based conservation group WWF said in a report Monday, July 23, 2012 that Vietnam is the major destination for rhino horns trafficked from South Africa.

The world body set up to control illegal trade in endangered wildlife has called for a high-level ministerial meeting between SA, Vietnam, China and Thailand in an attempt to resolve the rhino horn poaching crisis, which is now seen as one of the world’s “most structured criminal activities”.

The call has been made by the secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which was set up in 1963 to ensure that global trade in 30 000 species of wild animals and plants did not threaten their survival.

In a report submitted to the Cites standing committee in Switzerland this week, the convention secretariat identified Vietnam as a major emerging player in the illegal rhino horn trade.

It also called for a ministerial-level meeting to be held between SA, China, Vietnam and Thailand to put new mechanisms in place to control the illegal trade in horns.

Vietnam should also be urged to conduct a thorough stock-take on rhino horns originating from SA, where they had been hunted legally, but which might have been sold into the illegal black market trade.

Vietnam has also been fingered as a weak link in the illegal trade in a separate report by the World Wildlife Fund (see graphic, right).

Whereas China was formerly seen as the main destination for illegal rhino horns for traditional medicine potions, recent information suggested that rhino horn was highly sought after in Vietnam, apparently because of a belief that crushed rhino horns could be used to cure cancer or as a hangover remedy.

“A new trend has developed in Vietnam, with the horn being increasingly used in a manner akin to a recreational drug to cure the effects of over-consumption, such as to cure a hangover. Possession of one or more rhinoceros horns is also regarded as a status symbol amongst rich and influential individuals.”

While SA had arrested a large number of poachers over the past few years, the king-pins of organised crime syndicates were often located in consumer countries in the Far East – and therefore beyond the reach of SA law and other rhino range countries.

“For this reason, international co-operation and co-ordination are vital. The secretariat continues to believe that the illegal trade in rhino horn is one of the most structured criminal activities facing Cites.”

Much more effort should also be devoted to “following the money” to ensure that criminals did not benefit from the proceeds of their crimes and to uncover the criminals and bring them before court.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has also been identified as one of the worst performers in a Wildlife Crime Scorecard released this week by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The report, which examines the illegal trade in rhino, elephant and tiger in 23 consumer, transit or range countries, found that Vietnam was one of the worst performers implicated in wildlife trafficking.

Ranked according to the colours of a traffic robot (red, yellow and green), Vietnam |received two red scores for failing to protect rhinos and tigers (see graphic).

It was also directly implicated in receiving rhino horns illegally via SA, where 448 rhinos were slaughtered by poachers last year. At least 280 more rhinos have been poached in SA this year.

SA was rated with a yellow score for rhino and a green score for elephants, while the Mozambican government also received a red score for “failing to show progress” in stopping Mozambicans from poaching rhinos in the Kruger National Park and at Ndumo game reserve in KZN.

China, often seen as one of the major culprits in wildlife trafficking, was given a green score for both rhino and tiger, and a yellow score for elephant.

“On the face of it, this green score for rhinos may seem extraordinary given China’s strong historical tradition of using rhino horn. However, China has made progress on both compliance and enforcement for rhinos in recent years.”

For example, it introduced a policy in 1993 banning the use of rhino horn medicines and the government also refused to grant permission recently to a Chinese company to breed white rhinos from SA in captivity for their horns.

The availability of illegal rhino horns in China had also dropped by about 70 percent, while the Chinese authorities also mounted a major wildlife crime exercise earlier this year involving up to 100 000 forestry officers and customs officials.

This had led to the seizure of more than 1 300kg of ivory and action against more than 1 000 wildlife dealers and 600 online traders.

* The full WWF report is available at: http://www. wwf.org.za/?6480/wildlifecrimescorecard