Rhinoceros-Poaching Nears 15-Year High

Rhinoceros-Poaching Nears 15-Year High on Horn Demand in Asia - Bloomberg.com

By Alex Morales

July 9 (Bloomberg) -- The illegal trade of rhinoceros horns that are coveted by practitioners of traditional Asian medicine is sparking new demand from poachers, environmental groups said.

The level of illegal rhino killings in Africa may hit a 15- year high, according to a document posted today on the Web site of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, an international agreement with 175 member-states. While the population of black and white rhinos is on the rise, the up-tick in poaching is a “major concern,” the study said.

“It is clear that there has been a serious escalation in illegal” hunting, the CITES report said. “Illegal rhinoceros horn trade to destinations in Asia is driving this killing, with growing evidence of the ongoing involvement of Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai nationals.”

Since the beginning of 2008, at least 12 rhinos have been slaughtered each month in Zimbabwe and South Africa alone, higher than an Africa-wide average of 3.5 a month from 2000 to 2005, the report said.

Rhino populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal are also at risk from increased poaching, said the report, which recommended increased monitoring of legal sport-hunting and better enforcement of laws governing animal products.

In Africa, the white rhino is classified as near-threatened on the Red List of endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with more than 17,000 found in the wild across the continent.

Black Rhino Falloff

The population of the black rhino, which was more numerous than the white species for most of the last century, fell below 2,500 in the 1990s with the animal now classed as “critically endangered,” the highest degree of threat. The latest count showed there are just over 4,000 individuals.

In Asia, the Javan and Sumatran rhinos are also classed as critically endangered, with the Indian rhino listed as vulnerable.

Today’s briefing to Geneva-based CITES was prepared by the Swiss-based IUCN, the conservation group WWF International, known in the U.S. as the World Wildlife Fund, and Traffic, a Cambridge, U.K.-based group set up by the IUCN and WWF that monitors the international wildlife trade.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.

Rhinoceros-Poaching Nears 15-Year High on Horn Demand in Asia - Bloomberg.com