South Africa's largest private rhino breeder says he has kept the protected animals safe from poachers for four and a half years but cannot continue if he is not allowed to sell their horns.
Rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine and prized as a status symbol in other parts of Asia, making poaching, which involves killing the protected species, a widespread problem. For that reason, international trade in rhino horn is banned.
John Hume's Platinum Rhino Conservation Enterprise, in South Africa's North West Province is home to 1,985 Southern white rhino and Hume has long pressed the government to let him sell their horns, which he removes legally and stockpiles.
- Reuters -
