What Can I Do With My Elephant Ivory & Rhino Horns In Nagaon
A rhino horn, regarded as the world's largest horn of one-horned rhinoceros, was today found in Nagaon treasury in Assam during verification process. The rhino horn verification committee (RHVC) has found one of the world’s largest horns – possibly the heaviest – of the one-horned rhino in central Assam’s Nagaon treasury on Tuesday.
Largest World With Rhino Horn Found In Nagaon
The weight of the horn is 3.051 kg and has a height of 36 cm. The length of its outer curvature is 45 cm while that of inner curvature is 38 cm and base circumference is 60 cm, an official released said. The horn belonged to Bagori range of Kaziranga National Park and was found in August 1982.
It was kept at the Nagon treasury and Rhino Verification Committee completed the verification process, it said. The only recorded horn bigger than this is a 60 cm rhino horn at the British Museum in London. The horn was found from Assam in 1909 but there is no mention of its weight. Altogether 210 rhino horns have been verified by the committee of which 206 were from Nagaon treasury, three from Jorhat and one from Diphu.
Who Killed The Wandering Rhino In Assam?
RHVC was set up after wildlife activists sought to know if the rhino horns kept in treasuries were genuine or fakes replaced by officials after selling off the real ones. The committee decided to verify the horns kept since 1980, but activists said horns preserved before 1980 should also be accounted for.
Some activists said the horns should ideally have been destroyed and not preserved in treasuries. “Preserving horns gives the wrong signal to poachers and traders of illegal animal body parts. Destruction devalues the horns and discourages poachers from taking risks,” Soumyadeep Dutta, an activist, said.
Black Rhino Relocation To Lilongwe In Malawi
The IUCN Red List states the Black Rhinoceros as Critically Endangered (CR) and, if this problem were to be ignored, they would be at risk of being “extinct in the wild (EW)”, and after that “Extinct (EX)”. In 2003, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and WWF initiated the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP), a project aimed at sourcing and securing new areas on which to re-establish populations of Black Rhino. Since 2003, the BRREP has successfully moved 218 Black Rhino to new homes, effectively establishing 13 new populations. The program has seen the birth of more than 100 calves.
The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project
Wildlife ACT has assisted with the monitoring of Black Rhino on all BRREP sites since the first population was established in 2004. In November 2019, we assisted with the BRREP’s 13th translocation. This operation saw 17 specially chosen, genetically diverse individuals, moved from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa to Malawi, the first cross-border translocation of its kind. After months of preparation, years for some, the journey began. With such precious cargo, it was a long journey for the ground crew. Even though all measures were taken to minimize stress and ensure their safety, the magnitude of such a Rhino relocation meant the team was under pressure.
Increase In Elephant Poaching And Ivory Trafficking
When it comes to wildlife crime, we are all aware of the threats to elephants and rhinos, with the demand for ivory decimating populations over the last few decades. But when we hear of ‘ivory’ and ‘poaching,’ hippos don’t necessarily spring to mind. Yet a rise in the demand for hippo teeth is now threatening these sub-Saharan mammals.
Selling Ivory in South Africa is a Business
Even though the United States and China have closed their domestic ivory markets, and that Japan and the European Union, who continue to trade in ivory, are under enormous pressure from the global community to shut-down their markets, South Africa has largely escaped scrutiny, and openly trades in ivory. International restrictions concerning commercial sales in ivory are enforced through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The Convention currently restricts international commercial trade in all new ivory.
Notorious ivory smuggler beats Malawi trap
In South Africa, trade in new ivory is also prohibited while the trade in ‘antique’ ivory is permitted. Retailers in South Africa who stock antique ivory items must be registered.
The South African ivory market, although relatively small compared to that of Japan or the European Union, is thriving with items freely available and prominently displayed in most antique stores. This is especially the case in the commercial hubs of the Western Cape and Gauteng provinces. There is also a significant number of ivory items available for sale online. Jewelry, curios and worked tusks of ivory.
So why this ivory is in black market demand?
For one, smuggling a hippo’s tooth is far less noticeable than a bull elephant’s tusk. Elephants rank highly on the international conservation agenda with many populations being the focus of law enforcement efforts. International trade in elephant ivory is also prohibited. This crackdown on elephant poaching is forcing poachers to come up with new ways to feed the insatiable black markets in Malawi. It is important to note that while CITES regulates international trade in ivory,
The Convention therefore permits countries to adopt their own measures to regulate domestic ivory markets.
Raw ivory sales: Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia
However, in most antique stores investigated, many ivory carvings looked a lot whiter and appeared not to be as old. None of the store owners or shop assistants could verify the age of any of the items. There was no paperwork, no certificate of authenticity, no permits and therefore no proof that the items were in fact ‘antique’.
There was also no knowledge of the origin of the ivory for sale. Retailers buy from wholesalers who ‘apparently’ purchase their ivory from private individuals, deceased estates or from antique trade fares. A couple of vendors admitted their ivory was bought from Zimbabwe where there is a legal ivory carving industry. Zimbabwe has special CITES permission to trade in carved items but it’s strictly for non-commercial purposes.
Buy African Elephant Ivory To Save The Elephant
Most retailers did not seem particularly concerned whether a buyer was potentially taking their purchases overseas where stricter regulations should apply. On asking if it was legal to take ivory pieces to countries like the UK where ivory is banned, sellers were either non-comital or advised to keep the number of items purchased to a level that would not flag notice from the authorities.
Given that there is not proof of age or origin with any ivory item for sale in South Africa and given that most of the buyers seem to be overseas nationals, there may be cause for concern that South Africa’s antique ivory market is being used to launder ivory from recently killed elephants.
Zimbabwe & Namibia To Push For Ivory Trade
The report also states that clandestine ivory processing for export is occurring within South Africa. As a regional air transport hub, direct flight connections between Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport and various Asian destinations make smuggling ivory possible, while trafficking through indirect connections occur through the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Europe and Turkey for onward travel to Asia.
These reports show that significant quantities of ivory have entered international trade from South Africa and suggest considerable levels of criminal activity operating there.
