Rhino Horn turned into jewelry: new ways of smugglers operating in South Africa

NewsBharati    18-Sep-2017
Total Views |

Cape Town, September 18: Greed is one of worst evil disease of the human race. The will to have more and more harms not only other humans but also other animals, species. The wildlife trade monitoring network has revealed a report that says some criminal networks of Chinese origin operating in South Africa have innovated new ways of rhino horn smuggling. They are turning the horns into jewelry to evade its detection in airports.

Asia has a large consumer base of rhino horn products. The largest markets are in China and Vietnam. To export the horns, smugglers have begun manufacturing bracelets and beads, cutting horn into rough “disks” and packaging offcuts and rhino horn powder locally to facilitate smuggling efforts. This process complicates the ability of law enforcement agencies to detect and intercept rhino horn products.


Africa which is an old land of Rhinos has lost many of its old habitats. The report says more than 7,100 rhinos have been killed by poachers in Africa over the past decade. Today, only about 25,000 rhinos remain.

Police investigations in recent months have uncovered small home workshops where rhino horn is cut into rough “disks”, beads and bracelets are manufactured and offcuts and rhino horn powder are packaged for export. Fakes, primarily made from cow horns and designed to fool gullible consumers, are also increasingly being discovered by police in South Africa.

In Vietnam having a rhino horn is kind of a status symbol and wealthy people show off their power and wealth by keeping it.

“The domestic manufacture of rhino horn products by criminal networks in Southern Africa is likely to pose significant challenges to already over-stretched law enforcement efforts along the illicit supply chain from Africa to Asia,” said Julian Rademeyer, a Project Leader with TRAFFIC. The only positive side of this dark trend is these gangs are getting more concerned about security.

Rhino Horn Jewelry Smuggler Poacher Wildlife South Africa China Vietnam