Animal poachers have been busy the last two years. It is only March and already there are reports that nearly 200 rhinos and elephants have been poached this year alone in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Last year, 1 000 rhinos and elephants were killed. Opinion by Wisdom Mdzungairi
Rhinoceros are an endangered species, with South Africa having the highest population in Sub-Saharan Africa. As Africans consider what they could do to protect endangered species, one option up for consideration is legalising the animal trade.
When poachers kill elephants or rhinos it is for their tusks and the remains of the magnificent creatures are often left to rot and fester in the heat of the sun.
The trade in rhino horn is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (Cites). It has been illegal since 1977. Yet the elephant trade ban was partially lifted in 1989.
One needs to look to the east for a reason for the trade in elephant or rhino horn.
Various Chinese and Eastern medicines, plus herbal remedies, include rhino horn as an ingredient. The horn is used in products which claim to cure everything from a hang-over to cancer. But we should also look closer to home as people in the West also buy these products.
If there were no customers and no trade would there be an end to the slaughter?
As the Conference of the Parties (COP 16) to Cites enters its last leg in Bangkok, Thailand this week, Ivory shop owners in Asia could be unhappy with attempts to tighten local controls on the ivory trade.
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Perhaps strict controls on the ivory trade will destroy their tradition of ivory carving, forcing them to take their work underground to avoid arrest.
Cites aims to ensure that international trade in listed species of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival in the wild, and Africa’s position should be informed by, and based on, sustainable use principles with the long term conservation of species as the overall objective.
Kenya’s proposal to place a zero export quota on the export of hunting trophies from South Africa and Swaziland will obviously be opposed by both countries; and a proposed amendment to the annotation to the African elephant listing to place restrictions on the submission of proposals to trade in ivory by African elephant range States will be hotly debated.
Efforts to protect Africa’s rhino population are not just aimed at protecting a species from extinction, but also securing and conserving all of Africa’s natural resources.
The fact that the criminal syndicates involved in rhino poaching also undertake other crimes means that this current situation can be considered a national security risk.
It is therefore imperative that the national responses be comprehensive as they threaten not only the sustainable development path of the countries, but also the heritage of future generations. Greater cooperation should be sought from communities living adjacent to protected areas housing rhinos.
Field rangers should be employed from some of the impoverished villages to ensure thorough interaction with communities and intelligence that could contribute to the arrest and conviction of poachers, couriers and syndicate bosses.
In addition, Africa should also engage China, Thailand, the European Union and the United States on the issues of rhino conservation, rhino economics or international trade in rhino horn and possible legislative interventions.
But does China’s legal ivory trade offer a means to better protect African elephants rather than a laundering route for smuggled tusks from poached animals?
An expansion of the legal ivory trade might be the only way to ensure a well-regulated and sustainable trade and to conserve elephant populations. Seized shipments, including 24 tonnes found in Malaysia last year as well as smaller finds in Hong Kong, indicated that tonnes of illegal ivory were flowing out of Africa.
Ivory has been intercepted, but there is not been a lot of follow through between that and where they are headed – thus it is the missing piece of the ivory puzzle.
A lack of coordination between the multiple law enforcement and border agencies in different countries and a lack of understanding of the importance of wildlife conservation work too often prevented further investigation into the destinations of the smuggled ivory.
While ivory could be bought and sold around the world, China was often accused of fuelling demand probably because 1,4 billion people are Chinese and it is a very big market.
A moratorium until 2017 had been implemented after China’s last legal import of 62 tonnes of ivory was approved in 2008 and arrived in 2009.
Does animal trade problem require an economic solution rather than a kneejerk reaction, such as a total ban?
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