Powdered rhino horn now as valuable as street cocaine

THREAT: Poaching risks the long-term survival of rhinos as poachers grow ever more sophisticated, tempted by the huge value of horn

February 2011: Increasing demand for powdered rhino horn in Vietnam and China has seen the price skyrocket. Powdered horn has been fetching reported prices as high as US$50,000 per kg, roughly similar to the street price for cocaine in the UK.

Rhino horn is used in traditional medicine to cure anything from headaches to fevers, rheumatism and gout. Recent claims by a Vietnamese official that he used rhino horn to cure his cancer have escalated demand.

Horn has no medicinal value - you might as well bite your fingernails
‘Rhino horn is made of keratin, the same stuff that makes up human hair and nails,' said Mark Jones, programmes director at Care for the Wild International (CWI), a wildlife conservation and welfare charity based in West Sussex. ‘It has no medicinal value - you might as well bite your fingernails.'

Sadly, the increased demand has lead to a big surge in rhino poaching. South Africa alone, which is home to some 70 per cent of the world's remaining rhinos, lost more than 330 to poachers during 2010, almost three times the previous year's losses, and 30 times poaching levels in the 1990s. Another 21 were killed in January this year.

Poachers are using helicopters and heavy weaponry
Populations of rhinos in other African countries are also being affected, with poachers using sophisticated equipment including helicopters, modern veterinary drugs, and heavy weaponry. Reports from India suggest that beleaguered populations of one-horned rhinos in Assam are also being targeted, with horns being smuggled across the poorly protected border with Myanmar.

‘Asia's rhinos, and black rhinos in Africa, are severely threatened by poaching,' said Mr Jones. ‘The last northern white rhinos disappeared a few years ago. The relatively more numerous southern white rhino populations are now being threatened. Even rhinos that have been moved from South Africa to Tanzania as part of a reintroduction programme have been targeted. Reports of rhinos being killed, their horns sawn off, and calves left to starve, come in almost daily. Poachers and park rangers are often involved in shoot-outs, with deaths on both sides. It's a war.'

UGLY TRADE: A poached rhino, with the horn removed

Horn stockpiles must be destroyed
If rhino populations are to be saved from extinction at the hands of poachers, a range of actions are urgently required.

‘We need better protection for the remaining rhino populations. More and better trained and equipped park staff are urgently required,' said Mr Jones.

‘Border security needs to be tightened up. Loopholes in national and international regulations need to be closed to prevent poachers posing as trophy hunters and exporting "trophy" horns for sale. Exports of live rhinos from South African ranches need to be stopped. Horn stockpiles that are currently in private hands need to be managed by governments in a transparent way, and preferably destroyed.'

UK ban on export of rhino horn antiques is welcomed
The UK government recently placed severe restrictions on the export of antique rhino horn objects and trophies, amid fears that high prices were being paid for such items at auctions, with the items being exported for grinding down and sale as powdered horn in the Far East, fuelling the trade. ‘We were pleased to see the UK take these steps, and urge other nations to do the same,' said Mr Jones.

‘In addition, every effort needs to be made to reduce demand for rhino horn in China, Vietnam, and elsewhere in Asia, through engagement of the Traditional Medicine Community, and through education, awareness-raising and rigorous law enforcement. ‘