33 rhino horns and a quantity of ivory seized in Hong Kong

Rhino horns shipped from South AfricaNovember 2011. Hong Kong Customs have seized 33 rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks and 127 ivory bracelets that were concealed inside a container shipped to Hong Kong from South Africa. This seizure may provide a unique opportunity to gain insights into the criminal syndicates trafficking wildlife goods between Africa and Asia, according to TRAFFIC.

Track the DNA
TRAFFIC supports the South African Department of Environmental Affairs in requesting the authorities in Hong Kong to send DNA samples of the seized goods to the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of Pretoria in South Africa for examination. If the horn samples can be matched with records in the rhino DNA database it may be possible to identify the individual animals that were poached for their horns.

“Such an effort could yield major clues about who is behind this consignment,” said Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC’s rhino expert.

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Worst ever year for rhino poaching in South Africa

Rhino horn demand leads to record poaching
November 2011. More rhinos have been killed in South Africa in the past 10 months than were killed in all of 2010, new poaching numbers reveal. Statistics from South Africa National Parks show that 341 animals have been lost to poaching so far in 2011, compared to a record total of 333 rhinos that were poached in 2010.

South Africa's grim milestone comes on the heels of an announcement by WWF last week that rhinos have gone extinct in Vietnam. The carcass of Vietnam's last Javan rhino was found with a gunshot wound and without its horn.

Driven by demand from Vietnam
At a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) last year, the international community concluded that the increase in rhino poaching has been caused largely by demand for horn products in Vietnam. Law enforcement efforts, while increasing, are not yet sufficient to protect rhinos from poachers or stop the smuggling and sale of their horns by organized crime rings.

"It's hardly surprising the horn was missing from the last rhino as Vietnam is the preeminent market destination for illegally sourced rhino horns," says Tom Milliken, TRAFFIC rhino programme coordinator.

Tiger parts in demand in Vietnam too
In addition to being the biggest consumer of rhino horn, Vietnam is also a major market for tiger parts and other products derived from endangered species. Populations of tigers in the country are alarmingly low and could soon follow the Vietnamese Javan rhino into extinction.

"The unfounded rumour that rhino horn can cure cancer most likely sealed the fate of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam," says Dr. A. Christy Williams, WWF's Asian rhino expert, "This same problem is now threatening other rhino populations across Africa and South Asia."

Of the five species of rhinoceros, three are critically endangered. With the loss of the Vietnamese Javan rhino, there are now fewer than 50 Javan rhinos remaining, all in one national park in Indonesia.

"It's tragic that the Javan rhino has been wiped out in Vietnam by the same forces that are driving rhino poaching in Africa. This is the ultimate wake-up call for the Vietnamese government to turn aggressively on its internal rhino horn market," Milliken added.

South Africa badly hit
South Africa has been the focal point of poaching because it has the largest population of rhinos in the world. Law enforcement efforts there have been scaled up resulting in more arrests, and some of those convicted are being sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

However, demand for medicinal products containing rhino horn continues to increase in Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Rhino horn has no absolutely no ability to treat cancer or any other disease, and is no longer a part of the official Chinese traditional medicine pharmacopeia.

Tropy hunting loophole
Despite an international ban on commercial trade under CITES, rhino horn continues to be smuggled illegally from Africa to Asia. Additionally, legal loopholes allowing for the export of rhino hunting trophies are being exploited in some South African provinces. Improvements are needed in the regulation of hunting permits and the management rhino horn stock piles in the country. Read Trophy hunting rhinos adding to vast poaching problem

‘Legally hunted' rhino's horns scam
Large numbers of rhinos have also been legally hunted in South Africa - Reports suggest that 143 licenses have been granted in 2011 by South African authorities to hunt rhinos. It is believed that many of these rhinos are killed by Asian businessmen who are allowed to export the horns legally as ‘trophies' on the understanding that the horns are not resold commercially - But who checks to see where those horns are now?

Armed protection
"Since armed protection for rhinos in South African national parks is strong, poaching syndicates are likely to shift to countries with weaker enforcement power, including possibly Asian countries that may be caught off-guard," said Dr. Carlos Drews, Global Species Programme Director at WWF. "To break the illegal trade chain, governments in source, transit and consumer countries must all scale up their efforts."

In September a delegation of Vietnamese officials visited South Africa to discuss enhancing law enforcement cooperation between the two countries. Last year TRAFFIC facilitated a similar visit to Vietnam for South African authorities.

Criminal gangs
"Vietnam should follow South Africa's example and start sending poachers, traders, smugglers and sellers to jail," says Dr. Joseph Okori, WWF's African rhino programme coordinator. "In order to save rhinos from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/rhino-horn-vietnam.html#cr

Rhino horn: Fooling the thieves lured by riches

The thieves who broke into the Natural History Museum in Tring during the early hours of Saturday morning probably thought it had been a good night's work.

They took two rhino horns, weighing 2kg each and worth about £240,000 on the black market. Or so they thought.

Unfortunately for them, staff at the Hertfordshire museum were aware of the string of thefts from other museums and auction houses, and had swapped the real rhino horns for carefully crafted fakes, almost indistinguishable from the real thing. And totally worthless.

This year alone, gangs have stolen rhino horns from more than 30 collections across Europe. A Czech castle has been targeted, natural history museums in Belgium, Germany, France and Italy, and other sites in Portugal and Sweden.

In Britain, rhino horns have also been stolen from the Haslemere Educational Museum in Surrey and at the end of July thieves passed over a 2,000 year old Egyptian death mask to take a horn from Ipswich Museum.

Poaching crisis
These gangs are organised and plan in advance. The head of security for the Natural History Museum, Andrew Wilkinson, says they had an idea that they were being targeted: "We believe we were the subject of a hostile reconnaissance the week before. Staff spotted the man and we were able to put in extra measures to ensure that we were fully prepared.

"But it didn't stop them getting in. They made an initial attempt on the front door at midnight. The police were called and we repaired the door. Unfortunately they came back at half-past-four and got in through a first-storey window."

It can be no coincidence that at the same time, conservationists are warning that the world's rhino population is facing a poaching crisis.

Richard Thomas, from wildlife trade monitoring network Traffic, says the number of animals being killed has increased dramatically: "Increasingly we're seeing live animals targeted. The number of rhinos being poached in South Africa has risen from a dozen or so four or five years ago to last year when we reached a record high of 333. But we're way past 200 animals already this year."

Britain has taken a lead in the fight against the illegal trade in rhino horns. A week ago, the government secured an international agreement to curb sales and will lead to talks on how to fight myths about the medicinal powers of rhino horn.

Scarcity value
And this is the real problem. In China, traditionally rhino horn powder was used to treat fever, but a modern myth has sprung up - that has no basis in science - that it can cure cancer.

In Vietnam they are prized by the rich to display in their homes, pushing demand even higher.

Globally, the campaign to stop the trade in rhino horns has been very successful and any loopholes in the law that allowed the legal trade of antique horns have now been closed.

This makes their availability scarce but, with demand from Asia high, the prices have soared. On the black market rhino horns sell for around £50,000 per kilo, making them more valuable than gold, diamonds and cocaine.

Mr Thomas said: "Organised crime steps in anywhere where there's quick and easy money to be made, and rhino horns have hit their radar. They're easy to conceal and therefore easy to smuggle."

The Natural History Museum may have thwarted the rhino horn thieves this time, but it is unlikely they will be the last collection to be hit. While demand is high, and there is big money to be made, someone will try to find a way around the law.
By Niki Cardwell BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14696639

Key CITES meeting to address illegal ivory and rhino horn trade

Vietnam, China and Thailand are the key markets for Rhino horn and ivory August 2011. WWF calls on representatives of world governments and other groups attending the CITES meeting in Geneva this week, to stem the growing global trade in illegal ivory and rhino horn.

The 61st meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is taking place during an escalating crisis for rhinos and elephants due to increased poaching and the growing illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn.

"We hope that this reinvigorated Committee - with new members and a new chair - will be prepared to take decisive action to ensure that governments follow through on the commitments they have made under the Convention," says Dr Colman O Criodain, WWF International's policy analyst on wildlife trade issues.

No place in traditional medicine for rhino horn
WWF believes that South Africa, home to most of the world's rhinos, has shown a willingness to respond to the poaching crisis but needs to do more to regulate the issuance of hunting permits and to create a more robust approach to prosecutions. So far in 2011, South Africa has lost at least 250 rhinos to poaching, a rate that could exceed last year's record of 333 killings if not curbed.

Vietnam a major destination for illegal rhino horn
Vietnam is the major destination for illegal horn, yet it appears to be doing little to address the problem. This is despite recent allegations that many horn consumers are, in fact, government officials. In Vietnam, a new use for rhino horn as an alleged cancer treatment has emerged in recent years. WWF is also concerned by reports of illegal trade to Thailand and allegations of rhinos being farmed in China for their horns.

In a letter being presented to the Committee, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) expert Lixin Huang emphasizes that rhino horn was purged from the Chinese pharmacopeia in 1993 and that it has no proven cancer treating properties.

"There is no evidence that rhino horn is an effective cure for cancer and this is not documented in TCM nor is it approved by the clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine," Huang writes.

Speaking as president of both the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Huang says she is committed to protecting endangered species. The misinterpretation about rhino horn "shows little respect for the TCM profession and medical practices, and is harmful to rhino conservation efforts," Huang writes.

Ivory markets in China and Thailand must be controlled
A report on elephant poaching and illegal ivory trade being discussed at the meeting identifies China and Thailand as the two most important raw ivory consuming countries in the world. WWF calls on China to improve its already strong enforcement efforts by strengthening its ivory management regime and by offering more support to the African countries where poaching and illegal trade are most prevalent.

Thailand is a major end destination for poached ivory that is intended for the tourist market. This week, the Committee should establish a deadline by which time Thailand must have finalized and implemented the necessary controls to curtail its domestic ivory markets. Thailand is the host country for the next meeting of the CITES Conference of the Parties.

Finally, African countries that are most remiss in terms of failing to control domestic ivory markets - namely, Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria - should also be strongly encouraged to deal decisively with the problem.

Mahogany, fisheries and tigers
"Obviously, elephants and rhinos are at the front of our minds in going to this meeting," O Criodain says. "However the agenda includes many other important issues, such as improved regulation of trade in mahogany, fisheries issues and, of course, tigers. We wish the new Chairman, Mr Øystein Størkersen of Norway, every success in facing the formidable challenge of bringing the meeting to a successful conclusion."

The CITES Standing Committee is comprised of 19 countries, selected on a regional basis, and oversees the business of the Convention in between meetings of the Conference of the Parties.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/cites-2011.html