In midst of poaching crisis, illegal rhino horn tops gold
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com, November 25, 2009 Rhino poaching has hit a fifteen-year high, and the rising price for black-market rhino horn is likely the reason why. For the first time in a decade rhino horn is worth more than gold: a kilo of rhino horn is worth approximately 60,000 US dollars while gold is a little over 40,600 US dollars. Eighty-four rhinos were killed by poachers in South Africa this year alone, while Zimbabwe recently announced it has lost 300 rhinos in just three years, a quarter of the entire nation’s rhino population. Poaching has also occurred in India and Nepal where rhino populations are much smaller than Africa. “Increased demand for rhino horn, alongside a lack of law enforcement, a low level of prosecutions for poachers who are actually arrested and increasingly daring attempts by poachers and thieves to obtain the horn is proving to be too much for rhinos and some populations are seriously declining,” Steven Broad, Executive Director of TRAFFIC, said in July when the poaching crisis became clear. …
