South Africa’s first online rhino horn auction is all set to sell 500 kilograms of rhino horn this Wednesday after a Constitutional Court ruling lifted an eight-year moratorium on the trade.
Conservation groups have protested the auction, claiming that domestic trade would undermine the enforcement of the global ban on rhino trade.
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“Any domestic trade in rhino horn undermines enforcement and demand reduction efforts to battle wildlife trafficking in the rest of Africa, China (and) Vietnam,” the Humane Society said according to AFP.
Auction organiser John Hume says he harvested the horns by tranquilising the rhinos on his farm. He argues that the action wards off poachers who would otherwise kill the animals for their horns.
Environment Minister Edna Molewa assures that the government has taken the necessary steps to prevent any circumvention of international regulations, and that the horns will not enter illegal trade.
Potential buyers in Hume’s auction are mainly of Asian descent, chairman of the Private Rhino Owners Association Pelham Jones told AFP. The horns are sold in Vietnam and China as purported cures for cancer.
There are currently thousands of bidders registered for the auction — each of which had to pay R100 000 to do so. Buyers will have to acquire permits before receiving any horns.
Some South Africans have taken to Twitter to express their concern of the sales.
Rhino horn auction today sends a very confusing signal to a world trying to shut down demand for the stuff #RhinoHornAuction https://t.co/uznfa9Rqae
— Ross Harvey (@harvross) August 23, 2017
How can SA allow this Rhino horn auction after everything happens to these poor Rhinos . https://t.co/f38F4vfFOG
— Vince Mondile (@V_Mondile) August 23, 2017
Yet they come to our country and kill our fucking rhino’s , we should apply the same law . https://t.co/UtrljX0wTr
— Meekend . (@CertifiedDragan) August 23, 2017
The auction begins at 2pm.
Featured image: Jon Mountjoy via Flickr (CC BY 2.0, edited)
