Disturbing information indicates that China has imported an unusually high number of live rhinos from South Africa in order to harvest horns for so-called “medicinal” purposes.

As demand for rhino horn continue to undermine decades of rhino conservation, an alarming report has revealed that China is “farming” rhinos for horns – an appalling practice that will surely drive wild rhinos ever closer to extinction.

China’s rhino farms: Thwarting conservation efforts

The notion of China’s “rhino horn harvesting” issue surfaced in a November 2009 report prepared by the IUCN/SSC and TRAFFIC, African and Asian Rhinoceroses – Status, Conservation and Trade. The report revealed that South Africa has exported 141 live rhinos to China since 2000.

And on December 6, 2009, in our article Study Confirms Zimbabwe, South Africa Form Epicenter of Rhino Poaching Crisis Saving Rhinos published the following:

An increase in the imports of live rhinos to China from South Africa has recently been reported, as well as discrepancies in the actual numbers of rhinos involved. The study recommended that this trend, combined with emerging reports of “horn harvesting” from live rhinos in China, be further investigated and clarified …

If China’s bear farms, illegal tiger farms, and the recent elephant ivory auction are any indication, then it is likely China’s notion of “rhino horn harvesting” will thwart rhino conservation efforts by further stimulating the illegal market for endangered species products.

Most recently, The Times UK picked up the thread in its article China buys up African rhinos to ‘farm for horn’ published March 5, 2010.

‘Rhino farms’ likely to increase poaching of wild rhinos

“Rhino farms” could very well be China’s first step at an attempt to have the ban on trade in rhino products lifted. China has already demonstrated this pattern as the appalling “tiger farm” controversy plays out during this Year of the Tiger.

But, just like tiger farms, “rhino farms” will be a one-way ticket to extinction for these highly endangered species by further stimulating the illegal market.

The problem with legalizing any trade is that there is no way to tell “legal” products from “illegal” products, making it easy for poachers and smugglers to integrate their slaughter into the marketplace.

This is currently being played out in the elephant ivory controversy, which came to the forefront after CITES approved a one-off stockpiled ivory sale in 2008. After the sale, elephant poaching skyrocketed – and China’s appetite for ivory is behind the surge.

And, as reported in the Financial Times’ Shopping Habits of China’s ‘Suddenly Wealthy’, the Chinese appetite for endangered species products is indiscriminate and insatiable.

Traditional Chinese tastes, combined with the explosion in wealth during the past decade, have created a rapacious and unsustainable call for the body parts of endangered species. The manufacture of ­traditional delicacies, ornaments and medicinal ingredients has helped to cut swathes through populations of sharks, elephants, seahorses and other species across the world – and that demand is only expected to increase.

China’s investment in ‘rhino farms’ – part of TCM strategy?

There are several indications that the recent surge in illegal rhino killing could be the result of China’s investment in its pharmaceutical industry.

Shortly after China declared “traditional Chinese medicine” as a “strategic industry” in late 2005, the illegal killing of rhinos skyrocketed. And when an additional $130 million was allocated to this initiative in 2007, rhino poaching surged further.

Despite the fact that trade in endangered species products is prohibited, Chinese pharmaceutical companies continue to use stockpiled rhino horn to manufacture “remedies” comprised of rhino horn. However, as stockpiles are finite, rhinos continue to be killed illegally as a hedge against eventual stockpile depletion.

By “farming” rhinos, China is making it clear there are no intentions to curb its involvement in rhino poaching. And if its “tiger farms” are any indication, then China could eventually pursue a lifting of the ban on trade in rhino products.

An industry based on myths and superstition

China’s role in the depletion of endangered species is unmistakable – and unacceptable. Yet, some industries within the country have created a market that depends on the continuation of myths and superstitions surrounding animal parts – a market that thrives on ignorance.

It appears that China has little interest in adhering to its obligations as a CITES signatory. Instead, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry continues to manufacture and market “medicinal” products derived from rhino horn – a substance which has been proven by science to have no medicinal effect on humans.

China’s “rhino farms” unfortunately suggest that there is more commitment to investing in profitable myths than educating citizens.

Source: African and Asian Rhinoceroses – Status, Conservation and Trade, prepared by IUCN/SSC and TRAFFIC; available at CITES.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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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