The insatiable demand for rhino horns from illegally killed animals in South Africa has doubled the price in southeast Asia, making the trophies worth more than their weight in gold. Poachers now see the rhinoceros as their way of getting rich quick.
The price of rhino horns, which weigh 7kg on average, has increased to R400 000 a kilogram, outpacing gold for the first time in a decade. In London yesterday gold fixed at $1 345.50 an ounce, or R305 824 a kilogram.
The rhino has been condemned to death row by sheer ostentatiousness, as well as dubious medical claims.
The elite in Yemen carry daggers called jambiya with handles made of rhino horn, while powdered horn has been in demand in Vietnam since a minister claimed it had helped cure his cancer.
According to the International Rhino Foundation, traditional Chinese medicine considers rhino horn to have curative qualities. Shaved or ground into a powder, the horn is dissolved in boiling water and used to treat fevers, rheumatism, and gout.
The foundation says that given the increasing affluence among Vietnamese, the rhino’s horn has become more affordable. It is also a symbol of status, a means for people to flaunt their wealth. It is therefore not unusual for affluent Vietnamese and even government officials to give each other rhino horn as gifts.
The foundation quotes a report commissioned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s rhino specialist group and Traffic that says Vietnam has become an end-use market for wildlife in general and rhino horns in particular. “Currently, most rhino horns leaving southern Africa are destined for end-use markets in southeast and east Asia, especially Vietnam and China.”
In November 2008 the Vietnamese embassy’s first secretary was filmed buying rhino horns from a South African trafficker in front of the embassy. She was summoned home by the government but it is unclear what action was taken against her.
Australian model Elle Macpherson, a self-proclaimed fan of Chinese medicine, told The Times Online that she ingested powdered rhino horn because “it works for me”.
Last year 333 rhinos were killed in South Africa, including 10 critically endangered black rhinos. This year nine white rhino have already been killed for their horns. - Business Report