During the first six months of 2013, 450 rhinos have died at the hands of poachers. In 2012, 668 rhino’s were killed – it’s not hard to work out that this problem is not going away any time soon. Rhino deaths are increasing despite the treasury funding an extra R75 million towards army deployment and new technology to help fight the war against poachers.

Now the South African government is planning on asking the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) whether it can have a once-off sale of legal rhino horns. The horns for the proposed sale come from rhinos who have died from natural causes.

The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa said that any possible solution needs to be explored. Molewa said:

2026 is the year where we see the beginning of the extinction of the rhino. This is around the corner and that is scary.

We are carrying the world’s rhino population. We are looking for anyone that has a proposal.

By 2026 the number of rhinos being poached would outweigh the number of rhinos being born. Molewa said:

What we are not able to do is the same thing every day, which is to increase the budget. Of course we are doing this, but we need to devise other means and try other mechanisms to stop this killing.

According to the deputy director general of biodiversity, Fundisile Mketeni, government currently has 16,437 kg of rhino horns stockpiled. If the once-off sale is to go ahead, South Africa’s neighbouring countries are likely to join in on the sale. Mketeni said the money raised from the sale of the rhino horns would be used for “conservation and research” in the parks. The horns, according to Mketeni, could cost between R100,000 and R400,000 per kg.

While the once-off sale is only one of the proposals on the table, government is continuing in its attempts to decrease the number of rhinos being poached. Molewa continued:

We are using everything. When people come and tell us we should have these unmanned planes over Kruger, we listen.

The proposal has not yet been completed and “would still be discussed with all the involved parties before being taken to Cites”.

[Source: Mail & Guardian]