A South African judge on Thursday lifted a domestic ban on trade in rhino horns, alarming conservationists who described it as an “extremely risky move” that could worsen a poaching crisis.
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The North Gauteng High Court found that the State failed to follow the correct processes when it implemented the ban in 2009.
“Whilst the government may well appeal the decision, don’t forget we will still need a permit to sell rhino horn and the government will put certain conditions on the trade of rhino horn”.
Two millionaire rhino breeders successfully persuaded the high court in Pretoria that the government imposed a moratorium on the domestic rhino horn trade in 2009 without consulting the public.
“Will they be allowed to enter another country with it, as right now commercial worldwide trade in rhino horn is still prohibited in terms of the provisions of the Convention on global Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)?” “I can not think of any”, Legodi said in his 39-page ruling.
Poaching syndicates have increasingly targeted rhinos to meet increasing demand in parts of Asia, especially Vietnam for their horns.
He cited statistics showing the number of rhinos poached in 2008, before the ban, was just below 100, compared to about 1,200 previous year.
They argued that harvesting the horn from living rhinos at their ranches and selling it legally will drive many poachers out of business.
Furthermore, since the ban went into effect, tax revenue from the previous legal sale of the horn dried up, meaning conservation groups and anti-poaching authorities had less funding to use to ward off poachers.
“This is not about making money”, Jones said.
Thomson added that she is bitterly disappointed by the ruling.
The Environment Ministry said that the Court’s order would be suspended as soon as the Government lodged its appeal.
Milliken, of Traffic, said in an interview that it would be premature and potentially damaging to legalize trade in rhino horn, because there aren’t adequate systems in place in demand countries such as Vietnam and China to ensure that a legal horn wouldn’t feed the illegal trade, leading to even more pressure on rhino populations.
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The legalisation of the domestic trade means that rhino horn purchased by commodity speculators will have to be genetically coded and stored in security vaults until the global trade ban is lifted.
