Rhino poaching must be tackled as crime crisis, not as a conservation crisis

About one-third of the rhino horn that was seized over the past decade was smuggled unconcealed, with no attempt to hide the contraband in shipments.

This could suggest a reliance on corrupt players to move shipments along the supply chain, said Sarah Stoner, the director of intelligence at the Wildlife Justice Commission, which has analysed the trafficking of rhino horn over the past 10 years.

“This is a notable point of difference from other wildlife products that display similar Africa-to-Asia characteristics such as ivory and pangolin scales, which are almost always hidden within a cover of legal commodities,” she explained. “So, it’s a departure from the broader norm as organised crime groups involved in any commodity will usually invest a significant amount of effort to conceal their illicit activities. 

“We feel this could indicate that traffickers are more reliant on corrupt elements to move rhino horn shipments through that supply chain and that those actors can provide sufficient guarantee of safe passage so much so that it’s not always necessary to disguise it.”

Law enforcement agencies globally must address rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crime along with an increased focus on the higher level actors in the rhino horn supply chain.

Transnational organised crime

Stoner was speaking at a joint webinar to mark World Rhino Day 2022 hosted by WWF South Africa and the Wildlife Justice Commission — that works to disrupt criminal networks, deterring transnational organised wildlife crime.  

There is irrefutable evidence pointing to the involvement of transnational organised crime as a key driver of rhino poaching and rhino horn trafficking, she said. “As a high-value criminal commodity, illicit trade in rhino horns is showing no signs of abating. The threat must be addressed as a crime crisis rather than just a conservation crisis.”

Yet wildlife trafficking is still seen as a low priority. 

“This is really linked, we feel, to the fact that wildlife crime still doesn’t continue to be recognised as a type of transnational organised crime. What we want to try to impress as much as possible is that the response along the supply chain must be geared towards tackling this as organised crime.”

Law enforcement agencies need to be using advanced investigative techniques as far as possible and be as “intelligence-led” as possible, she said. “We see a lack of systematic intelligence in analysis in many of the countries that are challenged by these particular problems. And that’s a continuing concern for us, especially when you think about the scope and scale of rhino horn trafficking.”

The analysis, too, revealed a “growing allure” of organised crime, which calls for law enforcement authorities to stay ahead of changes in criminal methods and take pre-emptive actions against trade on the dark web and the use of cryptocurrency.

Moving larger volumes

The findings of the commission’s analysis will be published in its report ahead of the 19th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in Panama City in November. 

The report’s aim is to produce a comprehensive assessment of the threat to rhinos in 2022 to inform law enforcement, conservation and policymakers’ interventions to tackle the illegal rhino horn trade.

The key findings suggest that at least 7.5 tonnes of rhino horns were seized globally over the past 10 years. The average shipment weight increased markedly after 2017 and this trend continued throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. This increase potentially points to the greater involvement of organised crime groups and their ability to move larger volumes of product through the supply chain.

Rhino horns are most frequently smuggled on commercial airlines, but the trend is shifting from small shipments in passenger luggage to larger shipments by air cargo. This trend began before the pandemic and coincided with the use of more direct smuggling routes for these shipments. Over the past decade these routes constantly change making it difficult to monitor and police.

The price of horn in Africa is increasing once again along the entire supply chain after a fall to its lowest levels in 2020. However, the analysis found that horn value in all countries was consistently less than a third of the commonly reported value of $65 000/kg. 

“Despite the values being substantially lower than that commonly quoted, rhino horn nevertheless still continues to be regarded in criminal circles as being incredibly profitable, which is a huge concern for us,” Stoner said.

Entrenched networks

In an overview of the latest population figures for African rhinos released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature African Rhino Specialist Group, Jo Shaw, Africa rhino leader with WWF, welcomed the increase in numbers of the critically endangered black rhino. Populations have increased 3% per year from 2017 to 2021, reaching a total of 6 195 by the end of 2021.

However, Shaw said it is concerning that numbers of the more numerous white rhino declined to 15 942 and were 11.8 % lower at the end of 2021 than the 18 067 white rhinos recorded at the end of 2017. These declines predominantly occurred in the large, state-managed protected areas in South Africa. 

“Entrenched organised crime networks co-ordinating these crimes threaten not just rhinos but also the people who conserve them and societies living around conservation areas,” Shaw said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Africa rhino specialist group report showed that rhino populations that were co-managed, through partnerships such as those between local people, the private sector and state agencies, were performing better than those that were managed solely by state agencies.

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