A Brief History of the Long Fight to End Rhino Slaughter
South African farmers are trying to lift a ban on rhino horn trade. On World Rhino Day, a time line of a decades-long campaign against rhino poaching.
Two South Africans who farm rhinos on game ranches appeared in court today in Pretoria seeking to overturn the country’s ban on the domestic rhino horn trade.
John Hume and Johan Kruger argue that the ban, which has been in force since 2009, is unconstitutional. And they claim it has contributed to the recent sharp rise in rhino poaching in South Africa.
South Africa is home to an estimated 19,700 rhinos, about 80 percent of the world’s population, but last year poachers killed 1,215 of them, up from just 13 in 2007.
International trade in rhino horns has been banned since 1977, but smugglers sell the horns in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia, where they’re touted as hangover cures and aphrodisiacs. They’re also
