header: Black Rhinoceros
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line Diceros bicornis (Linnaeus, 1758)

LEGAL STATUS

All countries protect the rhino under national wildlife legislation, however, levels of enforcement vary and poaching remains widespread.11,12 The rhinoceros was listed on Appendix 1 of CITES in 1977. Thus international trade in this species is prohibited between Party States. Laws controlling trade in rhino horn have been tightened since 1992 and Korea, one of the major importers of rhino horn, joined CITES in October 1993.

In 1994, Oman (a non-Party to CITES) issued a Ministerial decision, banning the importation of rhino horn.4 Earlier this year, Yemen, probably the single most significant market for rhino horn in the world, agreed to accede to CITES following pressure from a WWF/TRAFFIC report on illegal rhino horn trade. This represents a major step forward in reinforcing the international trade ban. All countries protect rhinos under national legislation, however, levels of enforcement vary and poaching remains widespread.12,24

At the 8th CITES Conference of the Parties (CoP) in Kyoto 1992, Zimbabwe and South Africa submitted a proposal to initiate controlled trade in rhino horn from dehorned animals and existing stockpiles.12 They argued that, despite the trade ban, rhino populations were still declining and legalising trade would allow the use of rhino horn stockpiles to satisfy market demand thus simultaneously reducing the demand for poached goods whilst providing the funds for effective conservation programmes.9,12 Stockpiles in Zimbabwe alone could satisfy the market demand for horn used in traditional oriental medicines for the next 10 years. Likewise, dehorning approximately 60 rhinos could supply Taiwan's requirements.

The 9th CITES CoP (Florida 1994) urged Parties to identify, mark, register and secure any stocks of rhino horn they may hold. This overturned a previous resolution (1987) to destroy all stocks which this considered inappropriate because of evidence that destruction of horn stocks can actually cause prices to escalate as perceived supply diminishes.21 A recent study by TRAFFIC27 indicates that some Parties have made little progress towards implementing Resolution 9.14 of CoP 9, which called for the redoubling of rhino conservation efforts, in large part because of failure to secure international funding to do so.

At the 10th CITES CoP (Harare 1997), South Africa's proposal to allow trade in rhino parts and derivatives initially with a zero quota was defeated. No substantive progress was made on the subject of resumption of rhino horn trade or on the much wider issue of implementation of the CoP9 rhino resolution. Yemen's formal accession to CITES was confirmed and the challenge now is to follow up to ensure effective implementation of controls to stop illegal imports of rhino horn. To that end TRAFFIC met with Yemeni Government officials and agreed a programme to achieve this for which funding is now being sought. TRAFFIC will also continue monitoring the Parties' implementation of CITES rhino resolutions.


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