Wildlife conservationists and government delegates on Monday debated a proposal by Namibia and South Africa to kill and export as hunting trophies a small number of endangered black rhinos, protected under an international treaty.
The African countries made the request at a two-week conference in Bangkok of thousands of delegates from the 166 countries that have signed the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites.
Namibia has asked that it be allowed to export five black rhinos, while South Africa wants permission to ship 10 – all as hunting trophies, said Michael Williams, a spokesperson for the UN Environment Programme.
”They’ve never had export quotas for them. They’re remarkable animals, they’re very rare,” he said.
Although CITES prohibits trade in rhinos, the request is being considered as an exception to the treaty. Export quotas are sometimes granted for protected wildlife if the move clearly will not threaten the survival of the species.
Hunting reduced black rhino numbers during the colonial era. Relentless poaching during the 1970s through to the 1990s caused a crash in numbers from from an estimated 100 000 to fewer than
3 000, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Poachers seek rhino horns because they are used as a fever-reducing ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine and for making dagger handles in the Middle East.
In June, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the World Wide Fund for Nature said Africa’s endangered black rhino population had increased by 500 in the past two years, to 3 600 in southern Africa.
Observers say Namibia’s proposal is likely to be approved given the country’s successful conservation efforts and its pledge to kill only older males that are unlikely to reproduce. Also, the five animals are just a fraction of Namibia’s total rhino population.
Details about South Africa’s proposal were not immediately available.
Namibia and South Africa were also expected to ask for export quotas for leopards, also protected by the treaty. Limited trade in the cats has occurred in the past with CITES approval.
The agreement, established in 1975, is meant to protect about 30 000 animals and plants, some of which are threatened with extinction due to commercial trade. About 50 proposals are expected
to be submitted during the meeting to legitimise or block trade in some species. – Sapa