Næsehorn er nu mere værd end guld, derfor bør salg af det majestætiske dyrs eftertragtede horn lovliggøres indenfor kontrollerede kvoter, skriver fire førende miljøforskere fredag i en pressemeddelelse.
The four leading environmental scientists do so in a last ditch effort to save the imperilled animals from extinction.
In an article in the leading international journal Science the scientists argued that a global ban on rhino products has failed, and death rates among the world’s remaining black and white rhinos are soaring due to illegal poaching to supply insatiable (umættelige) international demand.
“Current strategies have clearly failed to conserve these magnificent animals and the time has come for a highly regulated legal trade in horn”, says lead author Dr Duan Biggs of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and University of Queensland.
“As committed environmentalists we do not like the idea of a legal trade any more than does the average member of the concerned public. But we can see that we need to do something radically different to conserve Africa’s rhino.”
Krybskytteri fordoblet de sidste 5 år
The researchers said the West African Black Rhino was declared extinct in 2011. There are only 5.000 Black Rhinos and 20.000 White Rhinos left, the vast majority of which are in South Africa and Namibia.
“Poaching in South Africa has, on average, more than doubled each year over the past 5 years. Skyrocketing poaching levels are driven by tremendous growth in the retail price of rhino horn, from around 4.700 US dollar per kilogram in 1993 to around 65.000 dollar per kilogram in 2012,” they say.
“Rhino horn is now worth more than gold,” the scientists note. This growth is mainly attributed to soaring demand by affluent Asian consumers for Chinese medicines.
World trade in rhino horn is banned under the CITES Treaty – and this ban, by restricting supplies of horn, has only succeeded in generating huge rewards for an illegal high-tech poaching industry, equipped with helicopters and stun-darts, which is slaughtering rhinos at alarming rates.
Attempts to educate Chinese medicine consumers to stop using rhino horn have failed to reduce the growth in demand, they said.
Salg af opdrættede næsehorn
The scientists argue that the entire world demand for horn could be met legally by humanely shaving the horns of live rhinos, and from animals which die of natural causes.
Rhinos grow about 0,9 kg of horn each year, and the risks to the animal from today’s best-practice horn harvesting techniques are minimal.
The legal trade in farmed crocodile skins is an example of an industry where legalisation has saved the species from being hunted to extinction.
Furthermore, if rhinos were being ‘farmed’ legally, more land would be set aside for them and this in turn would help to conserve other endangered savannah animals, as well as generating much- needed income for impoverished rural areas in southern Africa the researchers argue.
Forslaget fremsat for 20 år siden
They advocate the creation of a Central Selling Organisation to supervise the legitimate harvest and sale of rhino horn globally.
Buyers would be attracted to this organisation because its products will be legal, cheaper than horn on the black market, and safer and easier to obtain, they said.
They noted that “horn sold through a Central Selling Organisation could be DNA-fingerprinted and traceable (spores) worldwide, enabling buyers, and regulators to differentiate between legal and illicit products.”
A legal trade in rhino horn was first proposed 20 years ago, but rejected as ‘premature’.
However, the time has now come for a legal trade in horn, says Dr Biggs.
“There is a great opportunity to start serious discussions about establishing a legal trade in rhino horn at the 16th CITES Conference of the Parties (COP-16), which is to be held from 3-14 March this year, in Bangkok.”
“Legitimizing the market for horn may be morally repugnant to some, but it is probably the only sensible way to prevent extinction of Africa’s remaining rhinos,” the scientists conclude.
Læs pressemeddelelsen her:
http://ceed.edu.au/images/media_releases/March_2013_-_Rhinos/CEED_rhinos_1Mar13_press_release.pdf
Det sorte næsehorn benævnes også det spidssnudede næsehorn.
Det hvide næsehorn kaldes også det bredsnudede næsehorn.
