Private rhino horn owner John Hume recently held South Africa’s <a href="https://rhinohornauction.com/web/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first online rhino horn auction</a>, a major event in the ongoing fight by private rhino owners to be able to sell legal horn stocks. But in a statement <a href="http://mailchi.mp/240f2571befd/john-hume-online-rhino-horn-auction-results-835477?e=ba2124a66c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released on Hume’s behalf</a> it was admitted that there were very few bidders for the 264 horns.
The auctions result is a setback to achieve a legal, commercial trade in horn to replace poached horn in supplying demand in the main markets. Hume’s official statement tried to put a brave face on it, saying he had triumphed and that a legal and sustainable supply <a href="http://mailchi.mp/240f2571befd/john-hume-online-rhino-horn-auction-results-835477?e=ba2124a66c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been established</a>. He stills hopes to attract more buyers – horn will still be available for private sales as long as permits are available.
The auction website had been translated into Vietnamese and Chinese in a bid to attract more bidders. Vietnam and China are the main markets for rhino horn – supplied currently by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/wave-of-rhino-killings-points-to-shifting-poaching-patterns-in-south-africa-77806" target="_blank" rel="noopener">huge level of poaching of rhinos</a> in South and southern Africa.
But with very few bidders taking part and one presumes little horn sold, it has done little to decisively advance the cause of establishing a legal, regulated market that both John Hume and Pelham Jones, chair of the Rhino Owners Association (PROA) believe can replace poaching, and provide funds to promote the breeding, protection and ultimate survival of rhinos.
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There’s confusion over what comes next, made worse by the inconclusive result of the online auction, which has neither put a nail firmly in the coffin of legal trade nor shown a massive domestic demand that would put pressure on the government or provide economic incentives for more auctions or private sales.
This is the worst of both worlds and will only encourage further poaching, as demand shows no sign of lessening.
<h2>Controversy remains</h2>
The situation does not help clear the mess of a three way fight between private owners who favour trade, the government which seems not to know or want to say what it wants to do, and the strong and vocal lobby totally opposed to trade. Groups such as the <a href="https://www.ewt.org.za/RHINO/rhino.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Endangered Wildlife Trust</a>, for example, are against trade mainly on ethical grounds.
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The biggest block to the success of the auction was that horns legally purchased cannot be exported legally for sale. <a href="https://cites.org/eng/disc/what.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species</a>, or CITES, <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/cop/17/WorkingDocs/E-CoP17-68-A5.pdf">bans</a> this. Without lifting the ban or changing their regulations, CITES members like South Africa, China and Vietnam cannot trade any horn. Vietnamese or Chinese buyers can buy horn in South Africa but cannot take it <a href="https://beta.safarious.com/article/1902-saving-private-rhino-owners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">out of the country</a>.
Earlier this year, South Africa’s Constitutional Court <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wildlife-rhinos-safrica-idUSKBN1771VP" target="_blank" rel="noopener">definitively overturned</a> the 2009 government ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn. The decision caused confusion over how horn would be sold, what permits were needed and whether the department would provide the permits. The ability of the government to develop a viable regulatory system for horn is also in question.
The <a href="https://www.mahohboh.org/2017/08/21/rhino-horn-online-auction-postponed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">department set conditions</a> on issuing permits for Hume’s sale, which he agreed to comply with fully. Only permit holders can sell to other permit holders. The permit does not allow international trade. Part of the conditions was that the department must have access to the auction to do the necessary monitoring.
This would appear to be a first step in providing some sort of regulatory framework for domestic sales. It meets South Africa’s need to be seen to be complying with the 40-year-old <a href="https://voices.nationalgeographic.org/2016/10/13/cites-upholds-rhino-horn-trade-ban-but-will-this-reduce-rhino-poaching/">CITES ban</a> on the international commercial trade in rhino horn, but at the same time obeying the court order that domestic sales be permitted.
<h2>Confusion over what happens next</h2>
Earlier this year the South African government <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201703110005.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published draft legislation</a> on horn sales that would allow owners of horn (South African or foreign) to take two horns out of the country as personal property but not for commercial sale and as long as the owners had the proper permits. The department then held consultations with interested parties, including private rhino owners, but the proposed legislation has not been released for consideration by parliament.
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Molewa and the department haven’t said anything about next steps. They have however released <a href="https://beta.safarious.com/article/1902-saving-private-rhino-owners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a statement</a> affirming South Africa’s commitment to CITES regulations. This puts emphasis on the fact that commercial international trade on rhino horn remains prohibited. The department denied that the new draft regulations were meant to circumvent CITES but they did confirm that it would allow limited horn exports.
This has set alarm bells ringing that a pseudo trade could develop, with foreign buyers coming to South Africa, buying horn legally, then taking it out of the country after. Monitoring what happens then would be impossible.
There is no single solution or silver bullet to put an end to poaching, but the present impasse will only make things worse. &#8211; Written by <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/keith-somerville-275605" target="_blank" rel="author noopener">Keith Somerville</a>, Visiting Professor, University of Kent
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South Africa’s first online rhino horn auction ends in risky impasse

When it attacks it is terrifying. It lowers its head and strikes powerful deadly blows with its horn. It is one of the most feared animals in the wild, yet it dies a sad death at the hands of poachers; mutilated or hacked. The horn, its pride and weapon, is used in traditional Chinese medicine and as a status symbol for the wealthy.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30596 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/image21-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/image21-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/image21-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/image21-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/image21.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia. Today, there are a mere 29,000 in the wild. In South Africa, poachers killed 1,215 rhinos in 2014 – one death every eight hours.
“If the killing continues at this rate, we could see rhino deaths overtaking births in 2016-2018,” says Cathy Dean, International Director at Save the Rhino.
The poachers seem to be winning the war. Against them stand Siphiwe Sithole and her sisters in arms. Every night they creep into the dark, hunting the hunters. They strike like the fast venomous snake they name themselves after– the black mamba.
“Sometimes, when we are sweeping the bush, we walk into animals. One day, we walked into two lions and they charged us. It was scary,” says Sithole.
The unit was born in 2013 with a team of six in the Olifants West region of Balule Nature Reserve in the Greater Kruger National Park in South Africa. A year later, the unit was slithering through the bush with ease, covering the entire reserve. Craig Spencer, Managing Director of Transfrontier Africa and Warden of Balule Nature Reserve, is the founder of the unit and who trains them.
Every day, they come across snares and poachers on the run.
“Each time, I see there is no report of a rhino being killed it makes me very happy and it makes me feel special. To see many months of no killing of our rhino makes me the happiest. It shows that we are doing our job well and the project is working,” says Sithole.
Two years later, the sisters with attitude are making their mark deep in the bush.
“Snaring within the Black Mambas’ area of operation has dropped by 76 percent since their deployment. Rhino poaching has dropped from 16 poaching incidents in the year prior to the deployment of the Black Mambas, to one poaching incident in 14 months,” says Amy Clark, Black Mamba Project Administrator.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30598 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/100_3341-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_3341-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_3341-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_3341-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/100_3341.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Penalties for rhino poaching are also becoming more severe. In 2014, 386 people were arrested for poaching rhinos, rising from 165 in 2010. In 2014, rhino poacher, Mandla Chauke, received one of the heaviest penalties: 77 years in prison.
Just across the border in Mozambique is a cautionary tale. Here all of the rhino have gone. In South Africa, units like the Black Mambas stand in the way of poachers who threaten to do the same damage. Like rhinos themselves, they lower their heads and strike. Hell hath no fury like a Black Mamba.

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Beware Black Mambas Are Coming To Get You

The foot soldiers in the war against rhino poaching risk their lives every night. Preventing poachers from wiping the rhino off the face of Africa is a job for unsung heroes. Often, all they have are blisters to show for it.
They face questions from loved ones over the risky lives they lead. Last year, a lion dragged a sleeping anti-poaching officer from his bed under the stars and killed him.
It costs R20,000 ($1,900) a month for one unit, working as a two-man team.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-31143" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/20130523-IMG_8633-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20130523-IMG_8633-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20130523-IMG_8633-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20130523-IMG_8633-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/20130523-IMG_8633.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
They have to be quick. All it takes for a poacher to kill a rhino is an hour. In five hours, the horn can be over the border and on a plane. Anti-poaching officers are on high alert 24/7. All have military training. This is a taste of their hard lives, as private money comes into the game.
Sergeant Tumi Morema
It’s 2AM at the Thorny Bush Game Lodge. The off-road vehicle’s yellow headlights pierce the landscape. Sergeant Thumi Morema is at the wheel looking for poachers. The 33 year old comes from the community in the area surrounding the private big game farms. He remembers the day he made his first arrest.
“We were searching for an old man who was hunting with dogs. If we find poaching dogs we shoot them. We found his snares and set an ambush… we saw his dogs approaching under a tree we were sitting in. The old man stopped beneath us and started fixing the snares. I jumped out of the tree, went around and came up behind him. I touched him on the shoulder, he got such a fright. We tied him and his dogs up. This man had been hunting all his life and had never been caught. I’ve been hunting before. I called it hunting, you called it poaching. I call it poaching now,” he says.
Since then, he has caught more than 50 would-be poachers. Thirty six of them have been sentenced in court. According to Morema, only a few can cut it. Of the 42 men who trained with him, only two made it.
He has spent his adult life supporting his 18 family members after his older brother died. He says his community has ostracized him since going over to what they call ‘the white famers’ side’.
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Tag: Rhinos

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South Africa’s first online rhino horn auction ends in risky impasse

Beware Black Mambas Are Coming To Get You

My family is so scared i will be eaten by lions”