Let it burn, says animal welfare NGO about South Africa’s 75-tonne rhino horn stockpile

Poaching has decimated white rhino populations in the Kruger National Park – from 10,621 in 2011 to just 2,060 in 2022.

These hauls represented 18% of all rhino horns seized by the authorities between 2016 and 2021, the report said. All horns in stockpiles are meant to be kept securely with a set of identifying data for each horn, loaded onto a central government database, with horns from seizures clearly differentiated as they may never be traded, even if the trade ban is lifted. The report questions whether this is always done.In June 2023 thieves broke into the offices of the North West Parks and Tourism Board in Mahikeng and stole 51 rhino horns worth an estimated R9-million from the vault.

These stockpiles from national and provincial game reserves – and from private rhino owners – are growing, particularly with the widespread practice of dehorning. The EMS report questions why the government and private conservation bodies hold on to stockpiles, given that these horns have no conservation value, no local market, and the cost of keeping them secure is high.

He argues that a legal trade would collapse the illegal trade because there would be “a better-quality horn delivered to consumers more efficiently and reliably”. He did not support destroying stockpiles at this stage, but said what was urgently needed was for the DFFE and the police to conduct a “full and thorough assessment of all stockpiles across the country”.

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