The South Africa – Viet Nam Rhino Horn Trade Nexus (PDF ... - WWF

situation at the source: south africa
2008 2010 Estimates for five missing provinces (for 2010)
3361
4750
1428 377 1032
2837
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Rhino horn in privately-owned stockpiles (kg)
560 3921
Estimates based on
Emslie’s data (in
Milliken et al., 2009b)
Estimates based on
Hall-Martin et al., 2009
Official stockpile – estimates from
DEA and SADC RMG data
Figure 19 Estimates of private sector rhino horn stocks contrasted with latest horn stock data from December 2010
as much as 70% (Figure 19). Indeed, if the average White Rhino horn size is four kilogrammes (Martin,
1983), South Africa’s data for private sector stocks in 2009 is under-reported by up to 830 rhino horns or
415 rhinos.
In view of these apparent discrepancies, the TRAFFIC/IUCN rhino document to CITES CoP15 concluded:
Whilst the shortfall between reported and expected horn stocks does not confirm that illegal activity is
widespread in South Africa’s private sector, it does strongly suggest that significant volumes of rhino
horn still remain outside of the legal control system and are vulnerable to undocumented trade in the
hands of unscrupulous individuals. That fact, and the failure of five provinces to report private horn
stocks, indicates that implementation of South Africa’s control policy for rhino horns is inadequate at a
time when illicit trade is escalating (Milliken et al., 2009b).
Law enforcement personnel report numerous instances in which they believe privately-owned rhino
horns have been illegally sold, and there have been active investigations in Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Free
State, Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces (R. Taylor, in litt. to TRAFFIC, 2009). Initially, government
authorities had some success in preventing registered horns that were held under possession permits
from being sold to non-South African nationals. Later, it became apparent that such horns were being
transferred to certain bona fide citizens who in turn sold the horns to foreigners, sometimes subsequently
reporting bogus thefts. In at least one such case, the legally-acquired horn was traded through Port
Elizabeth, Eastern Cape province, only to finally surface in Indonesia; one of the middlemen in this
instance, presently awaiting prosecution, allegedly received ZAR30 000 (approximately USD3600) for
his efforts in the deal (R. Taylor, in litt. to TRAFFIC, 2009). Indeed, one wildlife industry insider at the
PROA National Rhino Summit in November 2011 stated that the national moratorium on rhino horn
trade, by ending the unofficial supply of rhino horn from private horn stockpiles into the illegal international
market, is what led to the subsequent rise in rhino poaching in South Africa.
In some instances, private sector operators have actively created rhino horn stockpiles with a view to
future legal trade or use. One such individual, John Hume, reportedly has:
Date Location/Museum No. horns Weight (kg) Comments
Nov 02 Transvaal Museum, Gauteng 1 Unknown White rhino. Daylight robbery.
ZAR150 000.
Dec 06 Graaff-Reinet House Museum,
Eastern Cape
Oct 07 Graaff-Reinet House Museum,
Eastern Cape
Dec 07 Amatole Museum, King Williams Town,
Eastern Cape
1 9 White Rhino. 120-year-old exhibit.
Break-in at night.
2 2 Mounted on pieces of wood.
Stolen out of gun safe by day
visitors.
1 Unknown Daylight robbery by four armed
men.
Mar 08 Oudtshoorn Museum, Western Cape 1 Unknown Mounted on piece of wood.
Break-in.
Apr 08 South African/Iziko Museum,
Western Cape
2 Unknown White Rhino dating from 19th century.
Also unsuccessfully attempted
to remove Black Rhino horns.
Unknown Lumarie Game Farm, Bela-Bela, Limpopo 3 Unknown Theft
Unknown Game farm, Bulgerivier, Limpopo 1 Unknown White Rhino. Theft.
Unknown Leshoka Thabang, Roedtan, Limpopo 6 Unknown White Rhino. Theft.
Unknown Elkland Safaris, Makhado, Limpopo 3 Unknown Theft
Unknown Grahamstown Albany Museum,
Eastern Cape
1 Unknown Fake horn.
Unknown Bedford, Eastern Cape 1 Unknown Game ranch.
Jun 09 Addo National Park, Eastern Cape 1 10.5 Micro-chipped. Armed Robbery.
Jun 09 Grahamstown, Eastern Cape 16 Unknown Game ranch.
Unknown Thomas Baines Nature Reserve,
0 0 2 firearms and safe stolen in belief
Eastern Cape
horns inside the safe.
Apr 10 Taxidermist, Limpopo 18 Unknown Daylight armed robbery.
Oct 10 Thaba Manzi Lodge, Limpopo 7 Unknown White Rhino. Armed robbery
plus two firearms. ZAR15 000
cash, cell phones and a laptop
computer.
Total 65 21.5
Table 6 Reported thefts and losses of rhino horn within South Africa (data from Law and Policy Programme, EWT)
over 500 kg of white rhino horn individually measured and registered with the provincial government,
implanted with government-issued micro-chips, similar to the ones inserted in pets, and housed in safetydeposit
boxes at three banks around the country, awaiting a time when trade would be legal (Borrell, 2010).
In fact, this individual has reportedly at least once sold rhino horn within South Africa prior to the
national moratorium:
Until recently, horn buyers advertised openly in Game & Hunt magazine for “tusks and rhino horns”
that have been “legally obtained.” It is legal to trade horn within South Africa’s borders with appropriate
permissions. Hume followed up on one such offer in July 2006, when he obtained permits to ship 84 kg
of horn to a buyer in the North West province of South Africa. Hume believes the horns subsequently left
the country. He sold the horn for just ZAR8000 (US$1200) per kilogram (Borrell, 2010).
Horn thefts
A related illegal trade in rhino horns concerns thefts of private or State-owned rhino horn stocks. As
the value of rhino horns has increased over time, rhino horn stocks are under increasing risk of theft.
At least 37 horns have been reportedly stolen from game ranches, whilst a series of other incidents
have resulted in thefts of a minimum of nine horns, including a fake specimen, from educational or
decorative displays at various museums within South Africa (Table 6). A taxidermist reported losing
64 the south africa – viet nam rhino horn trade nexus TRAFFIC 65