Wildlife authorities in Assam have made a radical decision to grab the rhino poaching crisis by the horns.

Assam wildlife authorities have joined together to give the international community a taste of old-school activism: The public burning of 1,500 stockpiled rhino horns.

Sending the message: Rhino horn ‘does not have any medicinal values’

In a bold and welcomed effort to send a strong signal to rhino poachers, wildlife traders, and anyone else engaging in the illegal rhino horn business, Assam has announced via The Telegraph that it will hold a public burning of the state’s stockpiled rhino horns.

The most important message will, however, go out to the clandestine wildlife traders and believers of traditional medicines: the rhino horn really does not have any value in monetary terms and does not have any medicinal values as believed.

The Secretary General of wildlife NGO Aaranyak, Dr. Bibhab Talukdar, heralded the decision as a “progressive step” and would like to bring further attention to the event by having it filmed.

The whole event of burning of horns should be transparent and videographed.

Most of the stockpiled rhino horns are in the eastern Assam wildlife division, which includes Kaziranga National Park. Kaziranga is home to the world’s largest population of greater one-horned rhinos (Rhinoceros unicornis). The other districts include Jorhat, Nagaon, Kamrup, Sonitpur, Darrang, Lakhimpur, Nalbari, Golaghat, Barpeta and Kokrajhar.

Chief Wildlife Warden S. Chand added that the decision to burn the rhino horns was in full compliance with international wildlife laws, and that authorities are now finalizing plans on how the ashes will be disposed of after the event.

Rhino poaching driven by Asian demand for rhino horn

The greater one-horned rhino population is currently around 2,850. Although the IUCN recently reclassified the species as Vulnerable, these rhinos still face an ongoing threat of illegal killing for their horns.

Insatiable demand for rhino horn in Eastern Asia, especially China, is behind the demand for rhino horn. Rising incomes in the region have made it possible for an unprecedented number of people to purchase so-called “medicines” derived from rhino horn and manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical companies.

Despite being a CITES signatory, China has not shown restraint in its own demand for rhino horn, nor does it appear to follow international laws governing the illegal trade in rhino horn.

Source: Burning Horn Burning to Bust a Myth, The Telegraph India 23 February 2010

Image: istock.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of Saving Rhinos LLC, which publishes news and information about the global rhino crisis. Besides writing Rhino Horn is Not Medicine, I am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine, the Editor of Project Pangolin, and a writer for the environmental news blog Planetsave. When I'm not blogging about the illegal wildlife trade, I like to rock out to live music.

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