"In 2018, about 700 rhinos were poached in South Africa. Down from an average of 1 250 in 2017 and 2016 it sounds like good news. However, by legalising rhino horn trade, the number could be zero, which would really be good news, writes businessman, game rancher and rhino owner, Dr Peter Oberem."
Afgriland magazine recently published this fascinating article by one of Briza Publications' authors (The New Game Rancher), the esteemed Dr Peter Oberem.
"Seven hundred rhino murdered in one year can never be
good news. Why must we accept the deaths of almost two rhino a day in South
Africa alone when there is an answer? To my mind, and the minds of hundreds of
conservationists and game ranchers, the solution is legalising rhino horn
trade."
Dr Oberem explains further:
"This step will restore the value of live rhino, and give
honest users of rhino horn access to legal and sustainable products. As a
result, humans and the natural environment alike will benefit from the
continuation of South Africa’s conservation success story."
Will it restore the value of LIVE rhino?
"South Africa is home to 79% of Africa’s total rhino
population, white and black, of around 25 600. When one adds the one-horn
rhinoceros of India, the world has – at most – only 28 000 rhino of all
species. Of this total population, almost a third are owned privately by game
ranchers in South Africa. According to the newly released 2017 survey figures,
46% of all white rhino in South Africa (around 7 500 animals) are on
private ranches.
Ours is one of the few countries in the world where game
has commercial value, thanks to two pieces of legislation.
Firstly, the Game Theft Act, Act 105 of 1991, states
that when wild animals are certified as adequately enclosed, their ownership is
conferred from the state to the owner of the enclosed area. Based on this Act,
wild animals can be privately owned and, being owned, can be traded. This gives
them a value and turns them into assets that the owner is prepared to protect
and conserve.
Secondly, South Africa’s Constitution enshrines the
right to sustainably use the natural resources of the country.
The impact of this legal framework is evident in both the
dramatic increase in the area under conservation in South Africa (approximately
20 million hectare, or 20% of formerly marginal and often degraded agricultural
land, is now private game ranches), and in the increase of game in the country
(from an estimated 500 000 in 1965 to almost 20 million today).
More specifically, in 1895 there were less than 60
southern white rhino in iMfolozi; by 1990, the government’s conservation
efforts had grown the number to approximately 6 000. The spike to the
approximately 20 000 white rhino we have today, came with moving of some
of the animals into private ownership once the law allowed it. Consider that
during this same period, the number of rhino in the rest of Africa had declined
by over 80%.
Sadly, these days wildlife ranchers keep rhino for love
alone. One of the many terrible consequences of poaching, has been the
destruction of the financial value of live rhino. It costs at least R28 000 per
month for anti-poaching security. In addition, some ranchers feed their rhino every
night to attract them away from the fences, and dehorn them every two years at
a cost of R6 000 per animal. The removed horn needs a permit, which comes at a
fee, and has to be stored safely where its presence is not a threat to life and
limb of the owner. A secure vault can cost around R3 000 per month.
On top of these costs, the ability to earn money from
owning rhino has all but been eliminated by bureaucracy. While selling horn locally is now legal, it
is almost impossible to get the necessary permits from the Department of
Environmental Affairs (DEA). International trade remains misguidedly banned by
CITES.
As hunting is legal again (albeit very strictly
controlled), the reality is that a dead, hunted rhino is now worth more than a
live one.
The combined impact of massive costs and almost no
returns, has seen the loss of more than 200 000ha of rhino-range-land since the
ban on rhino hunting and horn sales in 2010.
Legalising horn trade will do much to restore the value
of live rhino, as these figures show:
The current price of rhino horn on the streets of
Vietnam and China is US$60 000/kg (approximately R900 000/kg). Under legal
trading conditions, the Asian retailer could earn R300 000 for a kilogram
of horn (one-third), with R600 000 coming back to South Africa. At a tax
rate of 29%, the government gets R175 000 to channel towards conservation,
leaving R425 000 for the wildlife rancher – ample funds to cover the costs
associated with growing the kilogram of horn.
Legal trade makes considerable national economic sense. South
Africa’s 20 000 white rhino can produce 30 000kg of horn per year, providing
R27 billion income to the country. The government earns R7,8 billion in taxes, leaving
R19,2 billion for the rhino owners.
The opportunity to earn an income from rhino, will
encourage more game farmers to keep and breed the animals, thus increasing
rhino numbers and areas under conservation.
Importantly, these benefits will not only accrue to
government and private landowners. Communities that keep rhino on their
communal land will benefit on equal terms. The R600 000 that one kilogram
of legally traded rhino horn can yield, is equivalent to 17 jobs at the new minimum
wage rate for farm workers."
What does legal access for horn users mean?
"Rhino horn is a recognised ingredient in traditional
Chinese medicine; a market for it is therefore a given. In a legalised trade
environment, access will be controlled and because of a likely downward
pressure on prices, practitioners will benefit from supporting legal traders
instead of poachers.
Legal trade is easily controlled through DNA
identification. Every horn that is removed is matched to the living rhino that
was dehorned. This means that any bit of horn found anywhere in the world can
be traced to it origin – provided it was legally dehorned and has been through
the Rhodis process at the Faculty of
Veterinary Science, Onderstepoort. Any horn not identifiable is poached horn,
and its traders can be prosecuted.
The conclusion has to be that the demand for illegal
horn will fall and eventually disappear altogether."
But is there even enough legal horn?
"The answer is an unequivocal yes.
A rhino grows 1kg to 1,5kg of horn per year. With
20 000 rhino, South Africa can produce almost 30 000kg (30 tonnes) per
year. At the height of the poaching scourge, poachers killed 1 250 animals in
South Africa with an average of 5kg horn each. This brings the annual demand to
only 6,25 tonnes per year – far below our ability to produce horn for legal
sales.
Most importantly, rhino are not harmed by dehorning – it
really is like clipping your nails – and ranchers dehorn already in an attempt
to prevent poaching.
One cannot but conclude that those who are opposed to
legal rhino horn trading either do not understand the realities of rhino
conservation, or have a vested interest in rhino remaining endangered.
Furthermore, government bureaucracy is destroying the amazing conservation
story begun with the wise men who put the right to sustainable use of our
natural resources into our Constitution.
I therefore plead with our President, who I know
understands this issue, to do the right thing for rhino conservation in
particular and conservation in general, and for all current and future rhino
owners, including those communities who live on deep rural communal lands."
Oberem ends powerfully with this:
Please, President Ramaphosa, put your and your
government’s weight behind lifting the ban on legal rhino horn trade and ensure
that the bureaucrats stop strangling our future.
Maz’enethole - may your cows calve.
You can also read this article in the March/April edition of Afgriland, or visit the Afrivet website for more information.
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