Orgy of killing

IN 1890 there were fewer than 100 southern white rhinos left in South Africa – and the world – following an unsustainable orgy of killing by big game trophy hunters.

Over the past century that tiny nucleus of survivors in the Imfolozi Game Reserve was guarded and nurtured assiduously by the former Natal Parks Board, to the point where their numbers multiplied to reach over 20 000 animals 10 years ago.

This growing and healthy population was also spread out to other wildlife reserves across Africa, to replenish the animals decimated elsewhere.

But over the past eight years more than 5 400 rhinos have been butchered for their horns throughout South Africa to feed the burgeoning demand for traditional medicine, hangover tonics, trinkets and status symbols in China, Vietnam and other Eastern nations.

Hundreds of poachers have been arrested and wounded in the war to protect or plunder rhinos in the flagship Kruger National Park.

But as quickly as they are arrested, new poachers take their place, tempted by the lucrative rewards offered by criminal syndicates based in Laos, Vietnam or China.

Astonishingly, despite global efforts to regulate the transnational trafficking of a growing range of endangered species, the faceless kingpins who drive this illegal trade remain largely undetected and unpunished. That is why we welcome the new initiative by the Wildlife Justice Commission in The Hague to unmask some of the key players in Vietnam following a one-year undercover operation on the outskirts of Hanoi.

If Vietnam fails to take swift action against the criminals and demonstrate a real commitment to protecting the natural heritage of South Africa and the world, we hope the commission acts swiftly to unmask the alleged butchers at a public trial to be screened live on the world wide web.

The next debate is whether it makes any sense to reopen a global trade in rhino horns. If that happened, this ancient and iconic species would in many respects be reduced to the status of domesticated cattle, farmed for their horns.

Some conservationists feel this is the price that may have to be paid to ensure the survival of the world’s second-largest land mammal.