Sustainability

Rhinoceros hunting

However, in many countries even the establishment of reserves no longer offers good protection to many animals species, because of population increases political and ethnic conflicts (for instance in Mozambique), increasing poverty; there are many people who kill protected animals to sell parts of them to survive. Poachers have caused some species, such as black rhinoceroses, white rhinoceroses and elephants, to disappear. In particular, rhinoceroses are at risk because of their horns, which are much sought-after for medical purposes and to make daggers which in Yemen are symbols of manhood and strength. In the Seventies, this was all the rage and so this fashion played its part in the killing of 90% of the rhinoceroses of Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, and in their disappearance in another 7 countries. In 1977, the CITES listed all the species whose trade is forbidden, including both whole animals and animal parts and by-products. These bans and stricter and stricter inspections caused the value of horns to increase, making smuggling more and more remunerative and, in poor countries which are endlessly threatened by famines and wars, this often pushes people to infringe the ban. Poachers have therefore got on with their jobs undisturbed and the populations have dropped to critical levels. Since the late Eighties, Namibia first, then Zimbabwe have begun to cut the horns off rhinoceroses under anaesthetic This has proven to be a deterrent against poaching, but unfortunately the horns re-grow by a few cm a year (they are made of keratin just like nails and hairs) and the operation has to be repeated every 2-3 years at the cost of approximately 1,000 dollars per animal and funds are not always available. At the latest CITES Conference at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in November 1994, the countries in which rhinoceroses and product consumers live decided to strengthen the laws on protection and the inspections on their enforcement as well as to promote alternatives to horn-based drugs. At the same Conference, South-Africa was granted authorisation to export live white rhinoceroses (the only increasing species) to other protected areas and the trophies made by selective killing to fund protection projects. After these last changes, it seems the importation of rhinoceros horns has decreased over the last few years.