Trafficking of African rhinoceros horn on the black market surges 30-fold

The trafficking of African rhinoceros horn on the black market has surged 30-fold in the past 13 years and is now running “out of control”, animal protection advocates said.

“In last year, more than 2,000 rhinoceros horns from Africa were trafficked, which is 30 times more than in 2000,” Celine Sissler-Bienvenu, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) for France and French-speaking Africa, told reporters in Paris on Thursday.

The trafficking is “out of control. Like for ivory, like for products from tigers, these are very organised networks that have a great capacity to adapt to changes,” she said.

Demand for rhino horn – which is made from keratin, the same material as in hair and nails – has skyrocketed in recent years, largely driven by demand from Asia where the powdered horn is valued for its supposed medicinal properties.

It sells on the black market for as much as US$35,000 per pound.

Experts say the drive for illicit rhino horn, which is worth as much as cocaine or gold, has caused African rhino numbers to shrink by more than 90 per cent since 1970.