Scary facts in the private game magazine. In 2013 private ranchers claimed to have 25% of the rhino population. Today with the latest statistics from Kruger Park, private rhino owners speak for 60% of SA rhinos.

So our rhinos in state parks have been in decline and those under private protection are increasing. Simple, the conclusion is private rhino owners are better at protecting their assets.

But for how long can private rhino owners and state parks continue to fund R2 billion a year for rhino protection?

Currently, there are 90 tons of rhino horn in storage. At the height of poaching, it was estimated that 5 tons of horn were being taken from killed rhinos a year. From the stockpile alone, we can supply 5 tons a year for 18 years… legally.

The amount of horn we are able to harvest every year from our rhinos is about 22 tons per year. We can supply the market with 4 times what is being killed indefinitely without killing a single rhino.

That is estimated to be a market worth R33 billion per year, that will contribute R7 billion in taxes to the state coffers and make rhinos worth more alive than dead.

Imagine being able to reduce poaching to the point where rhino populations increase and generate substantial income at the same time as opposed to giving the whole business to criminals and getting the rhinos wiped out.

Lift the trade ban.

Writer – Bugs Van Heerden