Rhino Horn is NOT Medicine

South Africa: Arrest of Another Vietnamese National Highlights Ongoing Problem in Rhino Crisis

Sarah Pappin — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:31:32 +0000

The arrest of yet another Vietnamese national highlights the ongoing connection between South Africa and Vietnam in the burgeoning rhino crisis.

Eyewitness News reports that South African police swooped in on an apartment in a posh suburb of Johannesburg’s Bedfordview area late last night and arrested a Vietnamese national, after finding him in illegal possession of ten rhino horns, and an ivory elephant tusk.

Apparently, the suspect also had both US and South African currency valued at R20 million (more than US $2.4 million).

Vietnam is one of the world’s leading consumers of rhino horn and numerous connections have implicated Vietnamese involvement in the illegal horn trade — particularly through abuses of legal loopholes in the trophy hunting industry.

Another Vietnamese national’s case postponed (again)

Meanwhile, IOL.com reports that the criminal case against another Vietnamese national — who was arrested last month for attempting to smuggle three rhino horns out of the country at the OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa — has been postponed, once again.

The suspect, 25 year-old That Thai Dung, is expected to reappear in court on the 22nd of May.

The report claims the case was delayed this week because a translator was not available.

Other arrests of Vietnamese nationals

There have been a string of arrests of Vietnamese nationals for rhino crimes in South Africa over recent years, which have underscored serious concerns about trends in the illicit rhino horn trade.

Some of these include:

A man and a woman who attempted to smuggle rhino horns out of South Africa’s Wonderboom Airport in 2011

Three Vietnamese nationals who attempted to smuggle rhino horns out of the country amidst the 2010 World Cup Soccer festivities.

Xuan Hoang was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2010, after he was also arrested for attempting to smuggle rhino horns out of the country.

A Vietnamese embassy official was caught on film purchasing rhino horn in 2008 and although she was apparently reprimanded and repatriated, it appears criminal charges were never brought against her.

Two rhino horns were confiscated from a Vietnamese national in 2006, who then received diplomatic immunity for their criminal activities.

Interestingly, there has even been one case of a Vietnamese national being arrested (in 2006) after he was found in possession of both rhino horns and lion bones.

Today, there is mounting concern about the growing connections between the rhino horn and lion bone trade.

There have also been arrests of Vietnamese individuals in the US, who were allegedly operating some kind of rhino horn trafficking ring.

South African game industry involvement

It is now known that South Africa’s game industry has played a significant role in supplying the horns to Vietnamese dealers and middle men, which has been enabled through the use of ‘pseudo’ trophy hunts.

Professional hunters have been charged with guiding inexperienced clientele on trophy rhino hunts — even going so far as shooting the animal for the “hunters”, as they did not know how to do it themselves.

Professional hunter, Peter Thormahlen, was twice charged with illegally hunting rhinos for Vietnamese clientele and although he was minimally fine in one case, the other was dismissed by the court. Today, Thormahlen leads black rhino hunts for the owner of the world’s largest private collection of rhinos, John Hume — an aspiring rhino horn venture capitalist and a leading advocate for the revival of South Africa’s legal trade in rhino horn.

Another professional hunter, Christaan van Wyk, has also twice been convicted of the same charges — illegally hunting rhinos on behalf of his Vietnamese clients.

Shockingly, data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) indicates that South Africa has “legally” exported at least 241 rhino trophies and 175 rhino horns to Vietnam in the past 9 years — including 91 horns in 2010.

The ongoing links between the game industry and Vietnamese “trophy hunters” has prompted the South African government to take a closer look at the issuance of hunting permits.

Interestingly, the latest actions employed by the Ministry of Environment recently resulted in permits being denied for five Vietnamese “hunters” — much to the dismay of the safari operator who had taken them on as clients, who ultimately took action against the agency for their decision.

It’s also worth noting that the problem now appears to be spreading to Namibia, where rhino poaching rates have been nearly none existent for several years.

The country recently authorized a permit for a Vietnamese national to “hunt” a rhino.

Read “Illegal Trade in Rhino Horn: the Vietnamese Connection” and “Mules Hunting Rhinos? Sinister Scam Unfolds in South Africa” for more information about the South African-Vietnamese horn trade.

Vietnamese NGO launches rhino horn trade awareness campaign

Thankfully, Vietnamese NGO, Education for Nature – Vietnam (ENV), is leading the nation’s efforts to educate the public that rhino horn is not medicine.

ENV is producing two public service announcements about the black market trade in rhino horn — one focusing on the consumers and the other on horn smugglers.

The organization has conducted extensive research to compile an accurate consumer profile and clearly identify values associated with the use of rhino horn, so as to maximize the effectiveness of their campaign.

Read more about ENV’s work here.

Image ©Bhatti Ijaz

Project Pangolin. You may know me from my previous role at Bush Warriors. I am a biologist-turned-writer, with a BSc in wildlife science from Oregon State University. When I'm not blogging, I enjoy loud music, creating art, hula hooping, and being outdoors.

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Rhino Horns and Trophies Exported to Asia from South Africa 2000 – 2010 [Infographic]

Rhishja Cota-Larson — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:22:22 +0000

Infographic showing rhino horns and trophies exported to Asia (including Russia) from South Africa, 2000 — 2010.

About the Rhino Horns and Trophies Exported to Asia (including Russia) from South Africa 2000 — 2010 infographic:

Data source: CITES Trade Database.
Data includes single horns and trophies (both horns), and does not include the following documented specimens: Bone pieces, bones, feet, genitalia, leather products, live animals, skin pieces, skins, skulls, tails.
Data is limited to CITES database parameters.
Designed by Rhishja Cota-Larson
Data source: CITES Trade Database
Data compiled by Sarah Pappin
© Saving Rhinos LLC

Rhino Horns and Trophies Exported to Asia (including Russia) from South Africa 2000 — 2010 infographic © Saving Rhinos LLC

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

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A Tale of Two (Suspected) Rhino Horn Syndicates

Sarah Pappin — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:46:12 +0000

Two (suspected) rhino horn syndicates, both alike in indignity, in fair South Africa, where we lay our scene.

From safari ‘conservation’ break to new mutiny, where rhinoceros blood makes game industry hands unclean.

It’s the tale of two (suspected) rhino horn syndicates and their many similarities and commonalities — the notorious “Groenewald Gang” and the pioneering “Boere Mafia“.

Though the latter’s time in court appears to have come and gone (with justice left still waiting to be served), the former’s trial has yet to begin.

Let’s take a look at some of their similarities.

Both involve ‘game industry white guys‘, including safari operators, professional hunters, helicopter pilots, businessmen, and in the case of the “Groenewald Gang”, veterinarians.

Both had millions of dollars worth of assets seized in early May — the “Groenewald Gang’s” in 2012 and the “Boere Mafia’s” in 2010.

Both allegedly used helicopters to commit their rhino crimes.

While most of the “Boere Mafia” suspects were released on bail (only two were not — the same two are the only ‘white guys’ to have been imprisoned for rhino crimes in South Africa since 2006), every arrested member of the “Groenewald Gang” was released on bail on World Rhino Day in 2010.

The court cases of both are riddled with perpetual trial postponements and while the “Groenewald Gang” trial is expected to begin (again) in October 2012, the “Boere Mafia’s” case was “struck from the roll” in October 2010.

The alleged ringleaders of both have controversial histories with respect to their involvement in the game industry. Out of Africa Adventurous Safaris owner, Dawie Groenewald, carries a felony record in the US over the illegal importation of an unlawfully hunted leopard and has been barred from operating his business in Zimbabwe as a result of his unscrupulous activities. At the time of his arrest, Sandhurst Safaris’ Clayton Fletcher owned one of the largest lion breeding operations in all of South Africa and has been a staunch advocate for the canned lion hunting industry.

Most suspects from both (alleged) syndicates appear to have returned to business as usual and Groenewald apparently continued to be issued permits to buy, sell, and hunt white rhinos, despite his pending court case.

What will happen next?

Infographic ©Saving Rhinos LLC, compiled by author

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The Lion Bone’s Connected to the … Rhino Horn?

Rhishja Cota-Larson — Sun, 13 May 2012 01:23:12 +0000

International concern is growing around South African game industry insiders who are dabbling in illicit rhino horn and lion bone trade.

Why lion bones?

With fewer than 4,000 wild tigers left — some estimates place the wild population at a mere 3,200 — a sharp increase in the lion bone trade strongly suggests that lion bones are being substituted for tiger bones in the Chinese medicine market.

And it seems that South Africa is supplying lion bones to meet this demand, according to Dr. Pieter Kat of the innovative lion conservation organization LionAid.

Lion bones are increasingly important to the Asian traditional medicine trade – largely because the tigers that used to supply bones are now a bit thin on the ground. In recent years, South Africa has replied to this demand.

Tiger bones are used as a “health tonic” in traditional Chinese medicine, and like rhino horns, have no proven medicinal value.

Similarities to rhino horn trade

Dr. Kat also warns that “lion export records are parallel to what was seen for rhinos a few years ago.”

He refers to the fact that nationals from rhino horn consumer countries are using South African trophy hunts as a front to launder rhino horn for the illegal market, as seen last year in the Steyl/Lemtongthai arrests.

(The trophy hunt scam has been going on for quite some time; check out Mules Hunting Rhinos? Sinister Scam Unfolds in South Africa.)

In a recent Behind the Schemes interview, Dr. Kat explained that the lion bone market is a “spin-off” business from trophy hunting.

It’s a spin-off from this trophy hunting market, because the trophy hunter only wants the skin and the head and things like that, and they don’t necessarily want the bones. So what has been happening more and more, since the farmers and the ranchers and the breeders realize that these bones now have value, they’re being exported to various countries in Asia.

And — just like the rhino horn situation — it seems the greed in the private sector has contributed to the issue.

This is one of the things that has happened with allowing wildlife into private hands. The private owners obviously want to make the maximum profit they can. And so therefore, they can sell the lion twice, once for its trophy value and again for its bones.

For example, South African safari operator Marnus Steyl was arrested last year, along with Thai national Chumlong Lemtongthai, for allegedly laundering rhino horns (using bogus trophy hunts) for the illegal market.

A Media24 investigation by journalist Julian Rademeyer revealed a paper trail of business transactions and photographs which established that in addition to rhino horns, Steyl was supplying lion bones to Lemtongthai’s employer, Xaysavang Export Import, based in Laos.

The paper trail also led to another associate of Steyl and Lemtongthai — Punpitak Chunchom — who had already pleaded guilty to illegal possession of lion bones and was expelled from South Africa.

However, Steyl wasn’t the only game industry insider to be fingered in the illegal rhino horn trade.

Lion breeder nabbed for rhino crimes

Clayton Fletcher of Sandhurst Safaris was nabbed in 2006 for his alleged involvement with a rhino horn syndicate (dubbed the “Boere Mafia”).

Four years after several suspects were arrested in connection with the “Boere Mafia”, the long-awaited trial was swiftly struck from the roll — much to the dismay of international onlookers.

It is interesting to note that at the time of his arrest, Fletcher was running one of the largest lion breeding operations in South Africa, and he has also been a key player fighting for the lion breeding industry amidst the long-standing controversy over “canned lion hunting”.

In 2007, a Cape Argus article explained that the Fletchers were breeding two to three times more lions each year than were being hunted on their property, and News24 reported that about 280 lions were located at Sandhurst Safaris.

Is it possible that, like suspects Steyl and Lemtongthai, Fletcher’s (alleged) rhino horn customers were also purchasing lion bones?

‘Creating a new market’ for lion bones

In 2010, David Newton of the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC was quoted in IOL, regarding the existing trade in lion bones from within the private game industry.

Newton said that a “limited trade in lion bones” was occurring, and added that captive lion breeders could exploit the situation and “create a new market”.

I’m not sure the captive-lion breeders help conservation. To some extent they are creating a new market, so TRAFFIC does not support tiger farming or lion farming where the final product is bone. We think there is a risk that some animals will be mixed up to create a new market.

Apparently, “alarm bells rang” when a permit containing “English and Chinese text” was issued in the Free State province to export lion bones to a neighboring province, suggesting that some lion breeders already had established connections with the end user market.

Co-authored with Sarah Pappin.

Image © Saving Rhinos

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India: Pair of Rhino Killers Busted in Kaziranga National Park

Staff Writer — Sat, 12 May 2012 17:59:18 +0000

Authorities from two law enforcement agencies arrested two suspected rhino killers in Kaziranga National Park.

India Blooms News reported that Dilowar Hussain and Altaf Hussain were arrested in Biswanathghat with a .303 rifle and live ammunition.

Kaziranga security forces and agencies have staged several joint operations this year, resulting in ten arrests during the past three months.

Although at least five rhinos have been killed in India since the beginning of the year, there is good news: This year’s census revealed that India’s greater one-horned rhino population is on the increase.

Continued, strong performance from local law enforcement will support this wonderful trend.

Image © iStockphoto.com

savingrhinos.org | Blog: Rhino Horn is NOT Medicine | Web series and podcast: Behind the Schemes | World Rhino Day: worldrhinoday.org |

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At Least 30 Rhinos Sent from Limpopo Province to China During Five-Year Period

Rhishja Cota-Larson — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:45:57 +0000

Additional details have emerged regarding 30 of the 100-plus live rhinos exported to China from South Africa.

According to South Africa’s Parliamentary Monitoring Group website, 30 live rhinos were exported from Limpopo Province to China between 2007 and 2011:

2007: 10 rhinos to Wei Feng Tian by De Cai International
2009: 2 rhinos to Thai Skin & Hide by Thaba Manzi Nature Reserve*
2011: 2 rhinos to Zheng Zhou Zoo by De Cai International
2011: 16 rhinos to Kunming Game Reserve by De Cai International

(“De Cai International” — 28 rhinos to China? And is something called “Thai Skin & Hide” really an appropriate destination for live rhinos?)

It is also interesting to note that in 2010, Chinese media reported the arrival of least 18 rhinos from South Africa. (18 is coincidentally the number of rhinos exported in 2011, according to the PMG.)

June 2010: Twelve rhinos were apparently flown from Johannesburg to Guangzhou, after a stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Their final destination was said to be the Yunnan Wild Animal Park in Kunming, China. (See Chinese News Reports Arrival of 12 Rhinos From South Africa.)
August 2010: A “breeding pair” of rhinos reportedly arrived at China’s Tianjin Zoo. (See Reports of More Rhinos Arriving in China from South Africa.)
November 2010: The Yunnan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau noted on their website that four white rhinos passed through the inspection center. The rhinos were said to have been imported from South Africa by Shi Lin Longhui Wildlife Research Center Co., Ltd. (See Reports of More Rhinos Arriving in China from South Africa.)

Indeed, these decisions to export rhinos to China (a rhino horn consumer country) in the midst of the rhino crisis seem questionable.

But wait, there’s more.

Most recently, South Africa exported rhinos, lions and other wildlife to Dhaka Zoo in Bangladesh — despite the fact that 12 of the 27 animals South Africa sent to the same zoo in 2008 were dead within one year.

*Seven rhino horns were reportedly stolen in an armed robbery at Thaba Manzi in October 2010.

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South Africa: Assets of ‘Groenewald Gang’ Rhino Horn Syndicate Suspects Seized in Raid

Rhishja Cota-Larson — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:48:51 +0000

Assets totaling approximately R55 million (US $6.8 million) belonging to rhino horn syndicate suspects Dawie Groenewald, Karel Toet and Manie du Plessis have been seized in a raid conducted by a joint team of the Hawks, SAPS, SANDF, the NPA, the Asset Forfieture Unit, and Department of Environmental affairs.

According to a statement issued by the South African Police Service (SAPS), it is believed that the assets were acquired via criminal activities.

The “Groenewald gang” is expected make another court appearance on October 19^th of this year to face 1,872 charges ranging from illegal rhino hunting to racketeering, permit violations, illegal trade in rhino horn, money laundering, and violating the Biodiversity Act and the Act on the Prevention of Organised Crime.

Check out the short video from the raid on Groenewald’s property, posted by Jacaranda 94.2:

Read more about the “Groenewald gang” at South Africa: ‘Groenewald Gang’ Case Postponed for Fourth Time.

Additional updates to follow.

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South Africa: 210 Rhinos Killed in 128 Days

Rhishja Cota-Larson — Wed, 09 May 2012 04:50:20 +0000

According to the latest news released by South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs, the country’s rhino death toll has risen to 210 since the beginning of the year.

Flagship tourist destination Kruger National Park has been hardest hit, with 127 of its rhinos slaughtered.

Arrests for this year total 128 so far; 67 of these were made in Kruger National Park.

BuaNews reported that South Africa is “cooperating with perceived transit or consumer countries in the People’s Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.”

Last year, the rhino death toll did not reach 200 until July 4^th.

Learn more at:

April 10, 2012: ‘Legal’ Trade in Rhino Horn is an Old Agenda, Not a New Solution
January 26, 2012: China’s ‘Rhino Horn Cancer Treatment’ Scheme
March 29, 2011: Busting the Rhino Horn Medicine Myth with Science
August 16, 2010: Illegal Trade in Rhino Horn: The Vietnamese Connection

Image: Saving Rhinos

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Nepal: Two Rhino Horn Traders Arrested

Staff Writer — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:32:27 +0000

Nepal authorities have arrested two rhino horn dealers identified as Tej BK and Pramod Adhikari.

The Himalayan Times stated the two suspects were trying to sell a rhino horn to an “unidentified client” over the phone.

In a separate incident, officials in Nepal also arrested Bishnu Tamang with a leopard skin.

Unfortunately, big cat trafficking is on the rise.

For example, as tiger populations have decreased, lion bone trade has increased significantly over the past few years.

savingrhinos.org | Blog: Rhino Horn is NOT Medicine | Web series and podcast: Behind the Schemes | World Rhino Day: worldrhinoday.org |

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Rhino Horns, Tiger Bones, Pangolin Scales … And Now Human Flesh?

Rhishja Cota-Larson — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:01:20 +0000

While traditional Chinese “cure-alls” sometimes include endangered species such as rhinos, tigers, and pangolins, the Eastern folk medicine craze has recently become even creepier, as South Korean customs officials have found it necessary to crack down on traffickers of “Chinese-made capsules made from dead human babies”.

According to The Korea Times, “human flesh capsules” are produced in Yanji, Jilin, Qingdao and Tianjin, China.

The capsules are made of powdered dried fetuses or dead babies. Believed to help in rejuvenation, they are used by terminal cancer patients or Chinese laborers working here, according to the customs office.

Al Jazeera reports that since August 2011, 35 trafficking attempts have been made and approximately 17,450 “stamina capsules” were confiscated.

Besides the creepy factor, ABC News notes that additional health risks — such as e coli, salmonella and shigella — could be present in fetal remains since “the birth canal is in close proximity to the rectum”.

Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, who consults regularly with the Centers for Disease Control, was quoted as saying that folk medicine is not “regulated”.

There are all kinds of health hazards that can come from abroad from folk or culinary practices that are not regulated.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the disturbing revelation comes as a result of a South Korean documentary which aired last year and accuses “Chinese pharmaceutical companies of collaborating with abortion clinics to make pills allegedly made of human fetuses and the remains of dead infants.”

Endangered species — and now human fetuses? How much more of this appalling nonsense in the name of “folk medicines” must we tolerate?