Article: SA considering rhino horn trade

This will drastically reduce poaching. We should also start rhino farms..
 
Thaaat's great. Let's use the foreseeable demise of our rhino population to make a quick buck, which the country at large, will never see.

At the same time, we'll undermine any and all action taken up to this point in an attempt to slow, stop or at least control the trade whilst simultaneously increasing the demand for rhino horn thanks to the increased availability i.e. an expanded market.

Bravo, government, you c*nts.
 
Merlin said:
Thaaat's great. Let's use the foreseeable demise of our rhino population to make a quick buck, which the country at large, will never see.

At the same time, we'll undermine any and all action taken up to this point in an attempt to slow, stop or at least control the trade whilst simultaneously increasing the demand for rhino horn thanks to the increased availability i.e. an expanded market.

Bravo, government, you c*nts.
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Uhm dude, from all the documentaries I have seen so far every one is pro rhino horn trade to reduce the poaching. We have so much horn in reserve that we could literally make it infeasible for poachers to well poach. I think this is a step in the right direction, albeit a bit slow by the government. Calls for this has been going on for a while now.
 
Merlin said:
Thaaat's great. Let's use the foreseeable demise of our rhino population to make a quick buck, which the country at large, will never see.

At the same time, we'll undermine any and all action taken up to this point in an attempt to slow, stop or at least control the trade whilst simultaneously increasing the demand for rhino horn thanks to the increased availability i.e. an expanded market.

Bravo, government, you c*nts.
Click to expand...

It is a smart move. There is no other way to control this. No amount of force will deter poachers and they will merely move on if they're eventually intimidated. Sure, it won't be our problem but the problem will persist...
 
If this discourages poachers from poaching then by all means go for it. Like with the illegal drug trade, if you legalize it and undercut what it's available for illegally, poachers will realise there's no money to be made in it.

Maybe this will encourage people to create rhino farms. And it's not like you need to kill the rhino to get the horn. From what I've read it's possible to remove the horn without killing the animal, but poachers kill the animal to get every last scrap of the horn out. Legalise it, control it, and ensure that rhino farmers aren't killing their livestock.

I'm sure there will be other problems with this, but since the poachers seem to be winning, what other choice is there?
 
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I still reckon they should ground up cow hooves and similar by-products from abattoirs and flood the market with "rhino horn" powder.
 
DigitalSoldier said:
Why haven't we done this yet, is it not possible ?

So many good farm land in Limpopo are empty because of government redistribution policies. Why not use that farm land for Rhino farming ?
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They don't breed like sheep, cattle etc., at best you're looking at one calf every two to three years.
 
DigitalSoldier said:
Why haven't we done this yet, is it not possible ?

So many good farm land in Limpopo are empty because of government redistribution policies. Why not use that farm land for Rhino farming ?
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From what I have read it seems that they are extremely territorial and so want a large living space. Also they are not very easy to breed.

So there are practical and ethical issues to consider.
 
Why does the government keep the Rhino horns? Give all the horns over to the WWF, and let them create a fund for saving animals.
 
Good idea or not, where big bucks are at stake government's sure to get their grubby paws in to corrupt it. Do it, but keep government far far faaaarr away.
 
evilstebunny - 03-05-2012, 02:31 PM Reply
Good idea or not, where big bucks are at stake government's sure to get their grubby paws in to corrupt it. Do it, but keep government far far faaaarr away.
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+1 they will definitely get their grubby paws on it. It will just be another gravy train for them
 
KhoisanX said:
They don't breed like sheep, cattle etc., at best you're looking at one calf every two to three years.
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And it's only mature at 7 (IIRC) so we have 7 years before we reasonably start the harvesting. In the mean time they will kill every last one. And they even kill babies for a little stump. :cry:

And how to harvest... i do not think we will easily domesticate that large of an animal, and how to harvest the horn with our killing the animal?

Maybe our reserves has them stockpilled and we can flood the market with that first. I'm all for getting a solution, it was sad going to the KNP and not even seeing a Rhino or smelling a midden
 
I'm all for this move if it will mean a serious dent in the amount of rhino poaching going on... and 20t of the stuff is an absolute shed load.
 
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