New market for rhino horns

Alex Eliseev

Traffic International on Wednesday said the seizure of R18 million worth of rhino horns in Hong Kong could signal a new market.

On Monday, customs officials confiscated 33 horns which were hidden inside a container from Cape Town.

Wildlife organisations now fear that over 400 rhino will be poached in South Africa during 2011.

Traffic International’s Richard Thomas said rhino horn was traditionally smuggled to Vietnam and the fact that it landed up in China was worrying.

“That’s obviously something that we need to investigate urgently and find out if there’s any market developing there. There could be a huge demand created, which could have massive consequences for poaching in South Africa.”