THE RHINO SERIES - Poaching Past and Present
If you’re aware of any kind of poaching or illegal wildlife trade it’s most likely rhino poaching. We’ve all been exposed to the images of rhinos with their horns brutally chopped off, the orphaned rhino calves left without mothers and the illegal underworld that surrounds this industry.
For the next few articles I’m going to focus on rhino poaching and really break down this incredibly complex topic for you. Today I’m starting off with the history of rhino poaching and the current state of affairs - including a look at the effects of COVID-19 on rhino poaching. Next, I’ll look into the debate surrounding legalising the rhino horn trade and then finally I’ll take a look at the future of rhino conservation, the role that rhinos play in ecosystems, and what you can do as a tourist to ensure that you are contributing to rhino conservation. I’m keeping the focus on South Africa throughout these articles as this country has faced the brunt of poaching since 2007.
Why are rhinos poached?
Let’s start off with why we have to even focus on this subject, why are we in a poaching crisis? What is it about rhinos that makes them the target of poachers? Well, ironically, it’s the very thing that they evolved to defend themselves with that is making them the target of an industry that they can’t fight. Their horns. Rhino horn has been part of traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Much like pangolin scales and lion bones, rhino horn is believed to have the capacity to treat all kinds of ailments, from cancer all the way through to gout. I hate to break it to you so early on in this article, but it does none of this. Just like how pangolin scales can’t treat arthritis, lion bones can’t treat rheumatism and vulture eyes can’t help you see into the future, rhino horn has no medicinal value whatsoever. It’s made of keratin, that’s the protein which makes up your hair and nails. If you’re looking for medicinal value from keratin you may as well check first to see if eating your fingernails works before you try rhino horn, it will be a lot more legal and a lot less dangerous.
On top of the uses in traditional Chinese medicine, rhino horns are also used in Yemen for dagger (Jambiya) handles. Yemen was once the world’s largest rhino horn importer. Yet the demand has since reduced substantially as a result of cheaper alternatives, a preferences for antique horns and awareness raising. The centre of demand for rhino horn now moved towards south east Asia, specifically China and Vietnam. Here, rhino horn is still used in traditional medicine but it is also desired simply as a marker of social status. They are used as a symbol of wealth and success. Illegality and endangered species aside, in these countries there’s not too much difference between a rhino horn and a Rolex.
Rhino Horn’s Value
All of this demand has meant that rhino horn is now one of the most valuable products on the black market. It is sold for anywhere between $30,000 and $60,000 per kilo! That is far more expensive than gold, heroin or cocaine. Such a cost has led to this industry intertwining with other nefarious ones including the illegal arms trade and drug trades. It has meant that local poachers can be paid relatively massive sums of money. When someone is struggling to pay their way on $200 a month and someone offers them almost a year’s salary for one nights work it’s not hard to understand how this industry has developed.
Unfortunately, this is where conservation becomes such a complex subject. Within conservation there are a number of problems which we term ‘wicked’. This means that they have multiples sources and multiple solutions, many of which can often have unintended consequences. Rhino poaching is one such problem. Objectively, it makes no sense. But here we’re dealing with cultures, beliefs and corruption built up over generations which are now pushing multiple species towards extinction.
“IN 2010 IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT SOUTH AFRICA WAS HOME TO 95% (roughly 19,000) OF ALL REMAINING WHITE RHINOS AND 40% ( roughly 1900) OF ALL BLACK RHINOS. THE SURVIVAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN RHINO POPULATION COULD THEREFORE LIKELY DETERMINE THE FATE OF BOTH AFRICAN RHINOCEROS SPECIES.”
Eikelboom et al., 2020
The rhino poaching statistics
From the evidence it appears that the rhino poaching crisis in southern Africa began in Zimbabwe. This is believed to be due to a number of reasons. It is thought that severe corruption and socio-economic downturns in Zimbabwe may have facilitated easy access to rhino horns. However, around the same time, economic upturns were recorded in south-east Asia thus driving the demand for this product.
Since 2007, the target country for poaching has shifted from Zimbabwe to South Africa. Here, the number of rhinos poached increased from 13 in 2007 to a maximum of 1215 in 2014. In 2019 only 594 rhinos were poached. This stunning drop is likely multi-causal. Firstly, and I would argue most importantly, this may be due to the incredible work of the rangers and conservationists on the ground in South Africa who work daily to combat poaching. Without them we would undoubtably be in a much worse situation than we are today. The other reason for this drop in figures could be that the population numbers of rhino are decreasing across the board, therefore there are less rhino to find. The total number poached might be decreasing yet the relative percentage of rhinos poached may be increasing. Furthermore, the main target for rhino monitoring, Kruger National Park, may be experiencing less poaching so figures are lower. However, this isn’t to say that poaching has stopped, it may just mean that the target protected area has shifted and there are undocumented poaching spikes taking place.
Ever since the establishment of CITES, trade in rhino horn has been banned. However, there are ways around this, in trophy hunts for example. In the late 2000s there was a suspicious number of Vietnamese trophy hunters visiting South Africa to hunt rhino, to the point that South Africa banned trophy export permits for Vietnamese nationals. This trend appears to have tailed off somewhat but as we have discussed before, there is a fine line to walk when implementing wildlife product bans, because often this eliminates the supply but not the demand.
Since the introduction of the rhino horn trade ban, the demand has stayed strong and rhinos (and rangers) have suffered massively. Black rhino numbers plummeted, their global population now sit around 5,500 and the species is critically endangered. White rhino populations, on the other hand, are actually quite strong, with around 27,000 individuals globally, yet they are still considered ‘near threatened’. However, since 2007, their numbers have also been on a downwards trajectory.
“SOUTH AFRICA HAS FOR YEARS BATTLED A SCOURGE OF RHINO POACHING FUELLED BY INSATIABLE DEMAND FOR THEIR HORNS IN ASIA. MOST OF THE DEMAND EMANATES FROM CHINA AND VIETNAM, WHERE THE HORN IS COVETED AS A TRADITIONAL MEDICINE, AN APHRODISIAC OR A STATUS SYMBOL.”
Agence France-Presse, 2020
The effect of COVID-19 on rhino poaching
Nature based tourism was a key funder for rhino conservation. It brought in money and awareness to support rangers and combat poaching. This money proved to any potential poachers that these animals are worth more alive than dead. But since early 2020, this tourism has now all but stopped entirely.
The effect of the almost overnight halt of tourism in southern Africa as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns is yet to be fully apparent. Certainly its effects will be felt for many months to come as redundancies commence across the globe and money which would have been spent on trips to southern Africa now gets directed towards paying bills and rent. However, current evidence indicates that the closure of South African airspace which came with the COVID-19 induced lockdowns meant that the main transport means for rhino horn was stopped. The supply was still there, the demand was still there but the connection was lost. Right now, it appears that poaching reduced by 53% in South Africa in the first half of 2020!
Looking more globally, COVID-19 could have provided a respite for species heavily targeted by poachers. Less than 2 weeks ago, Vietnam banned the import of all wildlife products in any form. While we can’t emphasise enough how banning something doesn’t make an industry disappear, it just makes it go underground, the stigma that comes along with illegality may be enough to dissuade some from using such products. However, there are always loopholes, in this case wildlife used in medicine is still allowed to be imported.
Looking towards the future, as many countries document unparalleled drops in GDP and unemployment figures spike, it is likely that tourism will continue to suffer. Such a loss of tourism could lead to more poaching as those who previously worked in the tourism industry lose their jobs and income. This would undoubtably have a negative effect on rhinos. It is therefore imperative that resources are pushed towards both combatting poaching in protected areas and maintaining socio-economic security in those towns and villages surrounding protected areas to ensure that a new wave of poaching does not emerge.
Check back in next week for another instalment of The Rhino Series where we’ll be looking at a debate to rival that of trophy hunting: to legalise the rhino horn trade or not?