According to environmental economist Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes, legalizing the international trade in rhinoceros horn could help the fight against poaching. And some of the proceeds from legal trade could be used for animal conservation. But, said Sas-Rolfes, it had to be done the right way, with a lot of things for the laws to work properly. “It’s not just a matter of changing the laws and not just the laws in SA. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) should be amended, as well as national laws in consumer countries”,…
According to environmental economist Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes, legalizing the international trade in rhinoceros horn could help the fight against poaching.
And some of the proceeds from legal trade could be used for animal conservation. But, said Sas-Rolfes, it had to be done the right way, with a lot of things for the laws to work properly.
“It’s not just a matter of changing the laws and not just the laws in SA. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) needs to be changed, as well as national laws in consumer countries,” said ‘t Sas-Rolfes.
“So there should be a coordinated way to do it and in a sense there should be mechanisms to make sure illegally obtained product doesn’t end up in the supply channels.”
He also said there were two main reasons why legalization could help, the only reason being that it could prevent the price from potentially going up because it provides more supply to the market. It would take the pressure off the markets, making it less profitable for poachers and illegal traders.
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“The other reason is that the people selling the horns legally could use that money for safety, poaching and conservation of rhinoceroses and that’s a really important point that everyone usually overlooks,” he said.
“It would bring in more money for the fight against poaching and it would also allow the legal sellers to compete with poachers and illegal sellers. At the moment they can’t.”
This after major mammal ecologist Dr Sam Ferreira of the South African National Parks (SANParks) said rhino population trends in the Kruger were not looking good, mainly because of poaching.
“Since we introduced them in the 1960s – remember there were no rhinoceroses in Kruger – and they did very well until about 2010. Since then, the illegal activities associated with rhinoceroses have reduced the numbers.”
However, Ferreira said that while that was the case in the national park, in other parks, rhinoceroses actually did very well and the population had increased. He said the reason the rhino population declined was due to moving the animals to other facilities and the drought that occurred in 2016, which prevented some animals from becoming pregnant and fewer births.
“South Africa can sell the horns in the country, so we can trade among ourselves, but there is no market,” he told media.
“If you want to trade internationally, it’s dictated by an international agreement, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which can put restrictions on how a country can trade. And currently the trade in horns is not allowed internationally.”
SANParks spokesman Isaac Phaahla said the Kruger had an estimated 15,000 to 16,000 rhinoceroses at its peak and there has been a steady decline since 2008. The population is estimated at 3,500.
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