“Forewarned, forearmed; to be prepared is half the victory.” — Miguel de Cervantes

Warning signs: Disturbing developments in Namibia could be edging the country’s rhino population closer to danger.

Although Namibia has so far remained unscathed by the rhino crisis, the situation could change, if alarm bells go unheeded.

Vietnamese ‘rhino hunters’

In November 2011, a Vietnamese national was granted a permit to kill a rhino at Otjiwa Safari Lodge in Namibia.

This is disconcerting because several Vietnamese nationals have already been implicated in schemes which use South Africa’s “hunting safaris” as a front to run rhino horn to Vietnam.

The scam has been going on since at least 2003 (escalation began in 2006), with South African safari hunt operators as willing participants.

To find out more about the Vietnamese rhino hunting scam, check out:

• 2011: “Mules Hunting Rhinos? Sinister Scam Unfolds in South Africa“
• 2010: “Illegal Trade in Rhino Horn: The Vietnamese Connection“

Rhino horn trade speculation

A recent article in The Namibian claims there is a “legalized trade” movement afoot in the country, and suggested that horns be removed from rhinos and stored in “National Banks similarly to gold and diamonds and packaged in varying quantities and qualities at set prices”.

These profiteers obviously have no qualms about encouraging seriously ill people to use rhino horn, instead of seeking medical treatment. (South Africa even authorized the export of more than 100 rhinos to China for a multimillion-dollar rhino horn harvesting scheme.)

This notion of rhino horn as a “commodity” continues to fuel demand for rhino horn, thanks to speculative claims made by rhino horn suppliers in South Africa.

It was noted that Dr. Kalumbi Shangula, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism Permanent Secretary, was skeptical about the “legalized trade” scheme.

Learn more about rhino horn suppliers:

• 2011: “Concern Grows Around Role of Rhino Horn ‘Suppliers’ in South Africa“
• 2010: “Are Insiders Intentionally Fueling the Demand for Rhino Horn?“

Chinese footprint in Africa

The Husab Uranium Project is located in Namibia and it is the world’s fourth largest uranium deposit. At the moment, it is owned by Extract Resources.

However, a market update is expected within the next 24 hours regarding the potential takeover of Extract Resources by China Guangdon Nuclear Power Corporation.

Rhino horn and ivory trade expert Dr. Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC recently told The Guardian that African wildlife is paying the price of “China’s investment drive” across the continent.

We’ve reached a point in Africa’s history where there are more Asian nationals on the continent than ever before. They have contacts with the end-use market and now they are at the source in Africa.

This is all adding up to an unprecedented assault on elephants and other wildlife.

Check out the effects of China’s increased presence in Africa:

• 2011: “Asian Demand for Ivory Leads ‘Unprecedented Assault’ on African Elephants“
• 2010: “Demand for Rhino Horn Now Dangerously Close to the Supply“
• 2009: “Kenya Fears Link Between Elephant Killings and Chinese Construction Projects“
• 2008: “How China’s taking over Africa and why the West should be very worried“

Rhinos in Namibia

Namibia is home to the world’s largest population (nearly 1,500) of the unique desert-adapted black rhino subspecies Diceros bicornis bicornis.

Black rhinos are classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, with fewer than 5,000 surviving worldwide.

Last year, the Western black rhino subspecies Diceros bicornis longipes and Javan rhino subspecies Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus were confirmed extinct.

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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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See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Greed!

Why does the demand for rhino horn persist? After all, rhino horn has no proven medicinal value.

However, China (using rhinos imported from South Africa) is engaged in a profit-seeking scheme that depends on sick people using rhino horn instead of taking medicine.

Check out the ‘Bogus Medicine’ video:

Want more?

See “Revealed: China’s ‘Rhino Horn Cancer Treatment’ Scheme” — and be sure the read the timeline articles.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

In July 2010, we published the first in a series of articles which connected the surging demand for rhino horn to a timeline of developments in China’s traditional medicine industry. And during that time, more than 100 live rhinos were supplied to China by South Africa.

Although it has been widely thought that the rumor of rhino horn’s alleged “cancer-curing” power started in Vietnam, we now strongly suspect that this rumor originated with (or was propagated by) China’s Longhui Pharmaceutical “rhino horn harvesting” project.

Market demand for a ‘cancer cure’

The Longhui Pharmaceutical Company publicly claims that it plans to sell rhino horn as a cancer treatment (among other things) on a “rhino horn biological medicine industrialization project” information page located on the Fularji District People’s Government website (http://flej.gov.cn), as well as in a similar document obtained elsewhere. Both sources appear to have been published between 2005 — 2006.

Rhino horn is very important in the Chinese medicine field because of its effects: detoxication and anti-cancer, eliminating pathogenic heat from the blood, removing eczema. Rhino horn resources are rare because rhino are protected by [World Organization] and nobody can catch or kill them or trade in rhino horns. The Chinese government encourages people to develop a new substitute for rhino horn, but without substantial progress.

Therefore, the market demand for rhino horn will be great.

‘Products with rhino horns’

Longhui Pharmaceutical’s project is described as a “complete business chain of raw material extraction, processing, deep development and utilization” and the company’s main products are “products with rhino horns, Chinese proprietary medicines or health products”.

According to the document, the company’s projected annual profit is 178.86 RMB (28.24 million USD) from 390.99 RMB (61.74 million USD) in annual sales.

It was further noted that because rhino horn is “natural and without side effects, traditional Chinese herbal medicine containing rhino horn will be easily accepted by the market and the price will be higher.”

Cornering ‘the market’

Longhui Pharmaceutical also hopes to control the entire “rhino horn market” by breeding its own rhinos.

The rhino horn will be supplied by the company itself, so there will be no market restraints or competitors, with the company’s raw materials providing an obvious advantage. The price of the medicine and its cost will be stable.

Forestry departments aware of the scheme

The horn-harvesting plan has been moving forward with the approval of the National Forestry Bureau.

Longhui Group’s “shaving alive rhino horn technology” was approved by the National Forestry Bureau and Ma Jianzhang, professor at Northeast Forestry University and Wild Animal Management academician. He is the leader of this project.

And the State Forestry Administration appears to be in on the scheme, too.

When the project was brought forward, much attention was paid by leaders in the State Forestry Administration.

It is considered to be a good project which can [inherit and] develop traditional Chinese herbal medicine. The development of this project will surely promote the cause of traditional Chinese medicine.

‘Unproven use’ of rhino horn as cancer treatment

In August 2011, Lixin Huang, the President of the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) and Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (CCAOM) released a statement opposing the use of rhino horn in medicines.

There is no evidence that rhino horn is an effective cure for cancer and this is not documented in TCM nor is it approved by the clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine.

Huang suggested that the escalation of rhino killings in South Africa, along with the involvement of organized crime, is driven by the “non-traditional and unproven use” of rhino horn as a cancer treatment.

Peddling bogus cures

The “cancer rumor” is a gimmick to peddle bogus cures — and it’s being used to sell other species: Manta rays and pangolins.

Writer John Platt of Scentific American covered the Manta ray situation earlier this month.

TCM practitioners are marketing the rakers — known locally as peng yu sai — as an ingredient for soup that they claim boosts the immune system by reducing toxins and enhancing blood circulation.

Other supposed medical benefits include curing cancer, chickenpox, throat and skin ailments, male kidney issues and, as we often see with TCM, fertility issues.

And at Project Pangolin, we found that the China Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine website states that leopard bone, antelope horns, pangolins, bears, and rare snakes are “necessary raw ingredients” for the treatment of “coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, angina, stroke, coma, cerebral vascular disease, fever-induced delirium and shock, infectious diseases, cancer treatment.”

(Pangolins are also being farmed for “medicinal use” in China, which is a significant contributing factor to the flourishing illicit pangolin trade.)

Ethics vs. greed

Encouraging cancer-stricken people to consume rhino horn instead of seeking medical treatment?

It seems ethics have sunk to an all-time low — and greed is flying at an all-time high.

Timeline and background

For the timeline and background on this disturbing situation, see:

• “Suspicions Confirmed: China Investing Millions in Rhino Horn Scheme.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 02 June 2011.
• “In Plain Sight: China’s Rhino Horn Scheme.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 12 June 2011.
• “Reports of More Rhinos Arriving in China from South Africa.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 19 December 2010.
• “Chinese Researchers Hope to Turn Rhino Horn Cultivation into Thriving Enterprise While Avoiding CITES Scrutiny.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 17 November 2010.
• “Concern Grows Over Possible Links Between Rhino Horn Demand and China’s State-Funded TCM Research.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 05 October 2010.
• “Chinese News Reports Arrival of 12 Rhinos From South Africa.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 03 August 2010.
• “Revealed: Location of China’s Rhino Farm and ‘Horn Harvesting’ Experiments.” Rhino Horn is Not Medicine. 20 July 2010.

Image via Wikimedia Commons; caption added by author.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Syndicated via Planetsave.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Seriously? This is outrageous.

Despite the highly publicized abuse of trophy hunt loopholes in South Africa, Namibia has reportedly granted a permit to a Vietnamese national to kill a rhino.

According to the Namibian Sun, the hunt is to take place at Otjiwa Safari Lodge.

The permit which was apparently issued by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to the Vietnamese national is for the trophy hunt of a rhino on the Otjiwa Safari Lodge.

Vietnam is a major destination for illegal rhino horn, driven by the myth that rhino horn is a cure for serious illness, such as cancer. Rhino horn, in fact, has no medicinal value.

For the past several years, Vietnamese nationals have been implicated in schemes which use trophy hunts to launder rhino horn for the illegal market.

Earlier this year, South Africans called for a moratorium on trophy hunting of rhinos to curb the abuse.

In October 2011, Vietnam’s own Javan rhino, the unique Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus was declared extinct.

The last individual was found dead of a bullet wound in Cat Tien National Park; her horn was missing.

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

HK officials have confiscated a record haul of rhino horns.

Customs officers in Hong Kong have reportedly intercepted a shipment containing 33 rhino horns, 758 ivory chopsticks, and 123 ivory bracelets.

The illicit cargo arrived from Cape Town, South Africa.

The head of Ports and Maritime Command, Lam Tak-fai, told RTHK that the customs service suspects the shipment was headed to “neighboring countries” and that an investigation has been launched.

View photos of the rhino horns and ivory on Sulekha.com.

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

“The truth is on the march and nothing will stop it.” – Emile Zola

The world’s leading conservation and environmental organizations – among others – are speaking out against the use of rhino horn as a medical treatment. Check out this list of quotes with source links and a few videos.

Rhino horn quotes

1. “Although there is no scientific proof of its medical value, rhino horn is highly prized in traditional Asian medicine, where it is ground into a fine powder or manufactured into tablets as a treatment for a variety of illnesses such as nosebleeds, strokes, convulsions, and fevers.” – WWF, African Rhino Poaching Crisis
2. “The unfounded rumour that rhino horn can cure cancer most likely sealed the fate of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam. This same problem is now threatening other rhino populations across Africa and South Asia.” – Dr. A. Christy Williams, WWF, Rhino horn demand leads to record poaching
3. “We will be leading global action to clamp down on this cruel and archaic trade, and to dispel the myths peddled to vulnerable people that drive demand for rhino products.” – UK Environment Secretary Caroline Spelmen, UK to lead international rhino horn clampdown
4. “The tragedy is that rhino horn is made of keratin, the same stuff that makes up human hair and nails. It has no medicinal value, you might as well eat your fingernails.” – Mark Jones, Executive Director, Humane Society International/UK, It is devastating to see rhinos killed for a cure that doesn’t work
5. “To all this, I say that something that works for everything usually works for nothing. I also say that something that has been used for hundreds or thousands of years does not make it right.” – Dr. Albert Lim Kok Hooi, oncologist, A horny story
6. “Apparently, based on the results of this study, rhinoceros horn can reduce fever, but only at rather high dosage levels when prescribed as a single drug.” – Ethnopharmacology of Rhinoceros Horn. I: Antipyretic Effects of Rhinoceros Horn and Other Animal Horns. In this study, fever-induced rats showed temporary lowering of temperature after being injected with an extremely high concentration of rhino horn extract, however, there was no antipyretic effect at the dosage levels comparable to what would be prescribed to a human patient. Download the study here.
7. “The Secretariat is also very conscious, however, of the need to respond to the belief that rhinoceros horn is efficacious in the treatment or prevention of cancer. It is despicable that criminals are financially exploiting sufferers, and their relatives, at a time when they will be struggling to cope with distressing and sometimes terminal medical conditions.” – CITES (CoP15 Doc. 45.1). Download it here.
8. Regarding rumors that rhino horn is a cancer treatment: “There is no evidence that rhino horn is an effective cure for cancer and this is not documented in TCM nor is it approved by the clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine.” – Lixin Huang, Statement opposing the use of rhino horn in medicines by the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
9. “Tests also showed that rhino horn, which, like fingernails is made of agglutinated hair, has no analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmolytic nor diuretic properties, and no bactericidal effect could be found against suppuration and intestinal bacteria.” – WWF Scientific Tests Fail to Show Rhino Horn Effective as Medicine
10. “For some time I have been contemplating to publish a paper which should have a headline in giant newsprint to say that RHINO HORN IS NOT AN APHRODISIAC. There is even no evidence that rhino horn was ever regularly used for this purpose. Such a paper should be followed by another with more giant newsprint announcing that RHINO HORN IS NOT MEDICINAL. Consensus now appears to be that even if rhino horn is mildly anti-pyretic to lower fever symptoms, the benefits do not outweigh those of cheap over-the-counter medicines readily available in any pharmacy.” – Dr. Kees Rookmaaker, Rhino Resource Center Newsletter #25, November 2011

Bonus #11

This is interesting: Even the author of a recently published paper tacitly touting the benefits of China’s rhino farming scheme and legal rhino horn trade has acknowledged that scientific testing has proven rhino horn has no medicinal value (although “believers” in traditional Chinese medicine remain unconvinced).

To the believer in TCM, tests conducted by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Hoffmann-La Roche, which concluded that rhino horn had no effect on the human body whatsoever, or those carried out by Chinese scientists in Hong Kong, who found that rhino horn did have a cooling effect on fever in laboratory rats but only when used in massive doses, have no relevance.

Download it here.

Videos

Humane Society International: “There’s no scientific proof that rhino horn cures disease.”

Dr. Raj Amin: “There is no evidence at all that any constituent of rhino horn has any medical property. Medically, it’s the same as if you were chewing your own nails.”

World Rhino Day 2011: “At the root of the rhino crisis is the myth that rhino horn contains curative properties. For that reason, World Rhino Day 2011 is highlighting efforts to debunk the myths and diminish the demand for rhino horn.”

Bonus video: “Lone Rhinoceros” (Just wanted to share one of my favorite songs by my favorite guitarist, Adrian Belew.)

Additional

Of interest: Dr. Rookmaaker (whose fantastic quote is #10) does not agree with the citing of #9 (Hoffmann-LaRoche/WWF) because the full academic reports used to document these studies cannot be located, or with Dr. Raj Amin’s video (above) because the study itself was apparently not undertaken at ZSL – not because the information itself is invalid. He simply recommends that alternative studies be cited. (In my opinion, #6 is an alternative study. I still consider #10 and Dr. Amin’s video acceptable sources, as do many others.) You can review his comments here.

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

“The time is always right to do what’s right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This informative 30-page slideshow presentation points out that the solutions to the rhino crisis can be found in increased protection in all implicated states through international and national legislation, improved enforcement, stiffer penalties, and demand reduction – not legalized trade.

Watch, learn, and share with others:

(Click the square in the lower right to view in full screen mode.)

Legal trade in rhino horn raises serious ethical concerns, including:

• Legitimization of the product
• Undermining of demand reduction efforts
• Exploitation of cancer sufferers

Furthermore, ivory sales and China’s parallel market in tiger products have had devastating effects on these species.

About the presenter

Mark Jones is the Executive Director, Humane Society International/UK.

“The tragedy is that rhino horn is made of keratin, the same stuff that makes up human hair and nails. It has no medicinal value, you might as well eat your fingernails.” – Mark Jones, as told to the Daily Express in “It is devastating to see rhinos killed for a cure that doesn’t work“.

Image © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Good news!

There is an encouraging update regarding the 17 people arrested last month in Nepal: This gang is reportedly the “first complete chain” of rhino horn smugglers and traders to be taken into custody at once.

‘From grassroots to the international level’

An announcement by WWF noted that the operation’s success was due to the joint efforts of Chitwan National Park authorities, Criminal Investigation Bureau, Nepal Army and the local administration, along with WWF-Nepal.

This arrest is being seen as a significant achievement since it has led to the complete breakdown of a network of poachers and smugglers right from the grassroots to the international level.

One of the people arrested, Tanjing Nima Lama, had been declared legally dead in 2003.

It turns out that his family submitted a false death certificate, while Lama continued to operate an illegal trade network.

More connections

The investigation is currently in progress, and the gang is being interrogated by the Chitwan National Park authorities.

It is believed that the network is connected to a wider operation which includes Chitwan, Nawalparasi and Kathmandu – as well as links outside of Nepal.

WWF has posted a photo of the 17 rhino horn smuggling gang members here.

Here’s to a job well done!

Photo © iStockphoto.com

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.

Camera traps recorded just four females in a recent survey.

It is barely a week since the extinction of the Javan rhino subspecies (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) was confirmed, and already there is troubling news about the remaining Javan rhinos.

There may be just a handful of females among the world’s last population of Javan rhinos (Rhinoceros sondaicus sondaicus), which are found only in Indonesia.

According to The Jakarta Globe, camera traps recorded 17 rhinos this year and only four were females.

The rhinos were found in the eastern half of Ujung Kulon National Park.

Video of Javan rhino and calf:

Recently, the video cameras were moved to the western half of the park, which is “more remote”.

It is hoped that additional female Javan rhinos will be found; the results could be known in a few weeks.

Learn more about the extinction of the Javan rhino in Vietnam at “Gone Forever: Javan Rhino Declared Extinct in Vietnam“.

‘Operation Javan Rhino’

However, there is hope for Javan rhinos in Indonesia.

The International Rhino Foundation (IRF) along with an international team of partners, is working to expand the useable habitat for Javan rhinos in UKNP by creating the 4,000 hectare Javan Rhino Study and Conservation Area (JRSCA).

We are doing this by constructing small bridges, an electric fence, and a patrol road; eradicating invasive species which have taken over a good portion of the habitat; planting rhino food plants; providing a water supply and saltlick; and constructing additional guard posts. The continued survival of the Javan rhino depends on their population increasing in numbers as rapidly as possible, and in spreading the population out so that ‘all the eggs are not in one basket’.

Find out how you can help Operation Javan Rhino here.

Image via YouTube

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of 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, 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

See Rhino Horn is Not Medicine for more information.