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Illegal horns trade continues to threaten Africa’s rhinos
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officer offloads part of 105 tonnes of ivory and 1.5 tonnes of rhino horns stockpile worth billions of shillings at KWS headquarters in Nairobi on April 15, 16 ahead of a planned destruction on April 30. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The Chinese penchant for the rhino horn is driving the illegal trade in this prehistoric animal up again. With their newfound wealth, the Chinese are on a spending spree buying the horn coveted for its perceived value, ranging from trinkets to medicine that can supposedly cure anything.
The tragedy is that the rhino is from an ancient lineage dating some 60 million years ago, far longer than that of the elephant. Yet today because of our greed, the rhino is on its last leg. In the past its territory spread across much of Africa for the black rhino and white rhino. It was the same for the three Asian species — Javan, Sumatran and the Greater one-horned rhino.
