Rhino court battle to begin

PRIVATE rhino breeders go head-to-head with the South African government on Monday‚ in a court case that seeks to lift the moratorium on domestic rhino trade.

The civil case is set down in the Pretoria High Court and has been brought by two of South Africa’s biggest rhino breeders. It will run between June 15 and 19.

The government is known to be consulting widely on whether or not to make a submission at the 2016 meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) asking for the lifting of a ban on international trade in rhino horn.

But without a similar easing of restrictions in the domestic market this is unlikely to be granted.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said the challenge by the rhino breeders was disingenuous and not driven by any form of conservation motive.

“At a time when rhinoceros are being slaughtered at an unprecedented rate for their horns‚ this legal bid by a small group that stand to benefit directly from the international sale of rhino horn‚ should be condemned. It is a challenge driven purely by economic incentives and it is the rhino that will pay the ultimate price if the court rules in the favour of the applicants‚” said Jason Bell‚ IFAW director Southern Africa. “We urge the government to resist the court challenge with all its legal might‚ and trust the court’s judgment in coming down on the side of the rhino by rejecting the breeder’s bid.”

The government revealed rhino poaching in the first quarter of this year had outstripped the same period last year‚ with 393 rhinos poached between January and April.

Internationally Cites banned trade in rhino horn in 1977 but South Africa only placed a moratorium on domestic trade in 2009. — RDM News Wire