Lion Sands Game Lodge has donated R205 000 to the Private Rhino Owners Association (PROA) to fund its campaign to legalise the international trade in rhino horn.
Pelham Jones, PROA Chairman, said the donation would help the association’s campaign to legalise the international demand for rhino horn and collapse the illegal trade of rhino horn.
According to the association, the use of ground-up rhino horn as traditional medicine in Asia has increased to the level where the keratin is expected to be worth more than gold. In response to this demand, rhino poachers are slaughtering adult and young rhino at a rate that may exceed their natural population growth for the first time this year.
“Joining the international commercial trade in rhino horn is highly controversial,” acknowledged Jones. “It is polarising the conservation community,” he added. “As PROA our position at CITES 2016 will support sustainable utilisation and legalising the trade of rhino horn from authorised stockpiles and from normal mortalities.” He said the debate was not about the morality of the trade or the efficacy of horn as a medicine. “We don’t want to join the rhino horn business; our agenda is to save the rhinos’ lives,” said Jones.
“Despite the support from government, corporates and private persons, which is being channelled into the anti-poaching campaigns, the number of fatalities continues to grow exponentially,” said Robert More, Lion Sands Co-owner and CEO. “We are losing the battle against poaching on the ground,” he added. “In such a war the illegal trade can outpower you with its financial resources on the ground. Our next step therefore must be to change the law.”
