SA sees success in saving rhinos Considering advocating the legalizing of rhino-horn trade. South Africa is slowing the rate of increase in rhino poaching and is considering advocating the legalizing of rhino-horn trade to stop the killing of the animals, according to the Department of Environmental Affairs. “As government we believe if we hadn’t made the interventions that we did we’d probably be seeing the rhino population going toward extinction maybe in the next few years,” Rose Masela, head of national wildlife information management at the DEA, told reporters from the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Southern Africa today at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg office. The number of rhinos poached for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal qualities in China and Vietnam, increased 50% to 1,004 in 2013, according to SANParks, which runs South Africa’s nature reserves. There have been 979 rhinos poached this year, meaning that while the 2013 record may be exceeded, the rate of increase is slowing, Masela said. Legalizing the trade in rhino horn is one long-term measure being considered to reduce the financial returns for poachers by driving down the price and to provide owners with money to invest in security. The DEA set up a panel to give proposals by March next year, Minister Edna Molewa said last month. “There’s very little we can do about the belief in the use of rhino horn that exists in other countries,” Masela said. “Legalization would be a more medium-term solution.” ‘Insatiable demand’ Should the trade in rhino horn be legalized, game farmers could harvest a kilogram of horn a year from each rhino without killing the animal, said Peter Oberem, president of Wildlife Ranching South Africa. Rhino horn regrows like finger nails. The horns are more valuable than gold by weight. Prices for a kilogram of rhino horn range from $65,000 to as much as $95,000 in Asia. Gold traded at $37,454 a kilogram at 5:15 p.m. in Johannesburg. Legalizing horn would stimulate demand when combined with the growing wealth of China, said Dex Kotze, a conservationist and founding director of the Jenna Clifford jewelry company. Pelham Jones, chairman of the Private Rhino Owners Association, disagreed, saying the “insatiable demand” for rhino horn will either be fulfilled through legal or illegal means. “We are not being irresponsible,” he said. “We’re not gambling with the life of a species here. We are trying to save a species. We have the scars to show it.” Jones, who represents private owners with 5,000 rhino, or almost a third of South Africa’s total, said losing a rhino to poachers is a horrific experience. “We look upon them as members of our families,” he said. ©2014 Bloomberg News - moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-south-africa/sa-sees-success-in-saving-rhinos
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 12:04:18 +0000