Tug of war over how to stop rhino poaching

Published in: Legalbrief Environmental
Date: Tue 13 September 2011
Category: Conservation
Issue No: 0229

A tug of war is developing over how to save the rhino as poaching in SA reaches worrying proportions, writes Legalbrief.

Proposed solutions are as diverse as treating rhino horn with toxic substances in order to deter poachers, and lifting the ban on trade in rhino horn. Meanwhile, the office of National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele has banned all provincial and regional police communication officers from commenting on issues concerning rhino poaching. A report on the News24 site notes that the ban followed the death of two suspected rhino poachers who were killed during a shoot-out with SA National Defence Force soldiers in the Kruger National Park on Thursday. On Friday, provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Leonard Hlathi refused to comment on the shoot-out and referred all questions to national police spokesperson Brigadier Sally de Beer, according to the report which notes that Hlathi's senior, Brigadier Lindelani Mashego confirmed that local or provincial police were no longer allowed to comment on rhino poaching incidents. 'There's an agreement between the affected parties and other government departments that the issue of rhino poaching has to be communicated through the national office of the police. The national office has come up with a joint operation working with the intelligence and they are the ones who are handling questions from the media about rhino poaching issues,' the report quotes Mashego as saying. SA National Parks spokesperson Reynold Thakhuli said at least 20 suspected rhino poachers had been killed this year alone while 69 were arrested, the report notes.
Full report on the News24 site

The environmental jury is out on whether treating a rhino horn with toxic substances is an effective method of curbing poaching in SA. 'If it makes people sick, it will surely make animals sick,' a Cape Times report quotes the Endangered Wildlife Trust as saying. 'It's a complex, ethical issue because it involves poisoning people,' the Private Rhino Owners' Association said. 'If they say it won't hurt the environment, they must be using a synthetic compound that hasn't been proven to be toxic to humans,' said the Centre for Veterinary Wildlife Studies at the University of Pretoria. The Rhino Rescue Project announced last week that it had treated a number of rhinos' horns with a mixture of ectoparasitacides (drugs which kill parasites living on the surface of the host). The project treated animals at the Rhino and Lion Reserve in Kromdraai more than a year ago, saying that no adverse behavioural or environmental effects were recorded. The trust's compliance and enforcement spokesperson Rynette Coetzee said the effect on a whole population of rhino was not clear. She said the potion's active ingredients would have to be legal and in line with both the Fertilisers, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act and the Hazardous Substances Act, the report notes.
Full Cape Times report (subscription needed)

South African game rancher John Hume, who is probably the largest private rhino farmer in the world, has hired a lawyer to work on legalising international trade in white rhino horn obtained by tranquillising the animal. A Financial Mail report notes that although he doesn't allow hunting on his farm any longer because he says the horn is too valuable, he is lobbying for rhino horn farming as a solution to prevent another spike in poaching. According to the report, Hume believes rhino horn farming protects the rhinos from poachers and will make raising them on private property economically practical. However, the Environment Affairs Department's Director of Biodiversity Compliance, Sonja Meintjes, says SA would have to persuade two-thirds of the parties at the Cites meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in March next year to lift the ban on rhino horn trading. The report quotes Meintjes as saying: 'I'm almost certain there will be resistance from the Cites conference of parties. Even if Parliament approves it, SA would have to work very hard to convince the various parties. We'd have to lobby hard with countries beforehand.' Private Rhino Owners Association chair Pelham Jones says the Cites ban has not worked. The report quotes Jones as saying: 'With elephant, you cannot harvest an elephant tusk. But with rhino you can.' Jones says there is a need to heighten the economic value of the animal to create a business climate where the animal is worth more alive than dead, the report states.
Full Financial Mail report