A propaganda battle – or charm offensive, if you’re feeling expansive – is already under way in a bid to win over hearts and wallets if not minds to secure international approval for a legal trade in rhino horn, overturning a ban which has been in place for more than 30 years
Rhino populations are being hammered by poachers, pushing the species ever-closer to extinction to satisfy demand for rhino horn in Vietnam and elsewhere – yet despite 668 rhinos being slaughtered by poachers across South Africa in 2012, there are indications it is contemplating pushing for a legal trade in rhino horn
The use of rhino horn as a recreational drug or cancer treatment in Asia is based on myths, but has escalated exponentially over the last few years. As a result, rhino in Africa and Asia are brutally slaughtered in huge numbers for their horns. The trade is attracting the attention of organised crime
South Africa has seen an uncontrollable wave of poaching of rhinos for their horns, believed to be the panacea for all manner of ailments (without a shred scientific proof) in the Far East yet, staggeringly, in some quarters the argument is still made that a legal trade in horn is the answer to this appalling situation