A game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal is planning to offer guests the chance to help with de-horning its rhinos.

Guests of Nambiti Hills, a private game lodge in KwaZulu-Natal, may have the opportunity to assist rangers and veterinarians in the lodge’s plan to de-horn its 12 rhinos.

Discourage rhino poaching by removing horns

In an effort to discourage rhino poaching syndicates operating in the area, Nambiti Hills will be de-horning its resident rhinos – and turning the event into a tourist activity.

The reserve’s marketing manager, Bonita Cherry, said via The Independent that guests would work alongside a ranger and veterinarian.

Guests would help with research such as measuring the rhino, keeping it hydrated, taking photographs and physically cut off the horn. This is the first time we are de-horning our rhinos and offering guests such an opportunity. We are doing this because of the increase in rhino poaching.

Guests would pay extra to be part of the de-horning experience.

De-horning rhinos remains controversial

De-horning rhinos is not without controversy. Maureen Zimu, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife spokeswoman, explained that although they could not dictate what Nambiti Hills did with its rhinos, she was surprised by the plan. She expressed concern that tourists would be disappointed to see “incomplete” rhinos.

Ezemvelo wildlife investigator Rod Potter noted that guests would rather see the rhinos alive without horns, than to have them murdered by poachers. He thinks the lodge is hoping to recover some of the de-horning costs (about R20,000) by offering the activity to tourists.

However, he noted that it would be safer to have the tourists witness the de-horning, rather than actually participating.

It would be better to have the guests witness the de-horning rather than perform it as it requires experienced people and if one doesn’t cut off the horn correctly, it could injure the animal.

Conservationist Chris Galliers of the Wildlife and Environment Society of SA, is opposed to de-horning the rhinos as a poaching deterrent.

If we were to go down this route, then to be consistent we should de-horn every single rhino on the continent, which isn’t viable.

According to Sean Smith, head ranger at Nambiti Hills, the rhinos horns would be taken off the property and placed in storage.

A loophole for poachers?

Another potential problem with allowing guests to have access to rhino horns is that it could create a loophole for dealers to obtain rhino horn. This abuse has already occurred in several trophy hunting cases.

Despite the fact that the myth of rhino horn as a medicine has been repeatedly debunked by science, a persistent demand for rhino horn “remedies” remains unquenchable in Chinese and Vietnamese consumer markets.

With rhino horns reportedly selling on the black market for R1million, the temptation for an unscrupulous arrangement exists.

Rather than storing the horns as planned, perhaps the best way to eliminate the possibility of loose rhino horns entering the illegal trade would be to destroy the horns onsite as soon as they are removed.

Source: The Independent

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.

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts

You might also enjoy: