BURN HORNSSAVE RHINOS

Three rhinos are killed every day by poachers

RHINOS TODAY ARE FACING THEIR DEEPEST CRISIS IN DECADES. THEIR SLAUGHTER IS DRIVEN BY THE DEMAND FOR RHINO HORN IN EAST ASIA. THE DVŮR KRÁLOVÉ ZOO IS DETERMINED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE CRITICAL SITUATION OF RHINOS BY BURNING ITS RHINO HORN STOCKPILES THAT WERE COLLECTED FROM THE YEAR 2014 WHEN THE FIRST PUBLIC RHINO HORN BURN WAS ORGANIZED IN THE ZOO. THE BURN HORNS SAVE RHINOS CEREMONY TOOK PLACE ON 19TH SEPTEMBER 2017. THE DVŮR KRÁLOVÉ ZOO WANTS TO SHOW ITS DISAPPROVAL WITH LEGALIZING THE RHINO HORN TRADE IN THE SOUTH AFRICA AND BY HORN BURNING SYMBOLICALLY URGE THE PUBLIC AND ALL GOVERNMENTS TO ABANDON ANY INVOLVEMENT IN USE OF OR THE TRADE IN RHINO HORN. ONLY IN THIS WAY THE SLAUGHTER OF RARE ANIMALS CAN BE STOPPED. PLEASE, HELP US TO SHARE OUR MESSAGE!

Richard Leakey

famed Kenyan anthropologist and conservationist who pioneered burning ivory and rhino horn stockpiles and dramatically reduced poaching in Kenya


Tony Fitzjohn

„The slaughter of rhino is driven by trade in rhino horn. I have no doubts that intelligent, educated people world wide recognize that horn from this critically endangered animal is worthless. Burning it and ridiculing those who value it is an excellent idea. And those who try to sell it should be publicly condemned as they deliberately try to make personal profit on extinction of rhinos.“


BURNINGHORNS

Why Do We Burn Horns?

Why the Dvůr Králové Zoo decided to burn their rhino horns?

It is necessary to show clearly that the situation of rhinos in the wild is critical and that it is the demand for rhino horn what drives them towards extinction.

Burning itself is a symbolic event that calls on everyone to re-consider consequences of her/his behaviour. By buying rhino horn you fund criminal gangs and poachers. As a consequence of smuggling and trading in rhino horn, the rangers are killed, inhabitants of poor African regions are terrorized and beautiful animals are destined to suffer cruel death. All of this despite the fact that rhino horn has no properties that it is believed to have. Its consistency is similar to consistency of human nails or hair.

Has anyone ever burned rhinoceros horns in the past?

Yes. Probably the first public burning was of some 270 horns in Kenya in January 1990, as a symbolic protest against the trade in endangered animal species. This horn-burning, which was organized by famed anthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey, took place in the same place where Kenya’s president Daniel arap Moi had burned 12 tons of ivory six months earlier. It was a risky decision, but as a result Kenya was able to convince a majority of the world’s countries to ban the international trade in ivory – a ban that has led to an increase in the number of elephants in Africa. In the case of horns, besides the international ban on the rhino horn trade adopted in the 1970s, an important and major role was played by the later adoption of domestic bans in important consumer countries such as Yemen, Taiwan, and China. In some of these places, the destruction of horns was part of the successful campaign against the rhino horn trade. In 2016, another two protests against the illegal trade in wildlife were organized - so far the largest burning of rhino horns and ivory ever was conducted in Kenya in April and several months later horns were burned and ivory crushed right in the centre of one of the main consumer countries, in Hanoi. 

Instead of burning rhinoceros horns, wouldn’t it be better to sell them and to use the earnings for the protection of rhinos in the wild?

The sale of rhinoceros horns is a criminal act, because trading in horns is strictly forbidden. What is more, doing so would completely contradict the mission of zoos and nature reservations, because such sale would only increase demand and thus contribute to the further killing of wild rhinoceroses.

 

Wouldn’t it help to legalize the trade in rhinoceros horns?

The trade in rhinoceros horns was legal in the past, and that period can only be called a period of slaughter during which thousands and tens of thousands of rhinoceroses were killed. It wasn’t until after the ban on the international rhino horn trade and especially after domestic bans in important consumer countries that the numbers of certain rhinoceros species could be stabilized.

Permitting the trade in rhinoceros horns would not reduce demand, as some people erroneously believe, but would increase demand and thus lead to the even greater killing of rhinoceroses. Merchants and traffickers would try to sell as much as possible, meaning that they would advertise their goods and try to get as many customers as possible to buy them. For instance, in recent years they came up with the entirely unfounded claim that rhinoceros horns are an effective treatment for cancer. What is more, legalization would cause some people to believe that there is nothing wrong in consuming rhinoceros horns.

The domestic ivory trade in China is a clear example that legal sellers are merely a front for the sale of an enormous amount of ivory illegally acquired through poaching, and that legal sales do not reduce demand but increase it. In all likelihood, the legalization of the rhino horn trade would have the same effect – the demand for rhinoceros horns would increase and might result in the eventual extinction of rhinoceroses.

Unlike elephants, rhinoceros horns can be cut off, after which they grow back. Might it not be possible to satisfy demand by legalizing the sale of horns from rhinoceroses raised on farms?

The demand for rhinoceros horns is too great (and would only increase with legalization) to be satisfied through rhinoceroses raised on farms. This would inevitably lead to the legal trade networks being infiltrated by poachers and smugglers who would be able to supply horns from illegally hunted rhinoceroses at a lower price that breeders.

In addition, in the case of legalization, customs officers and other government agencies would find it very difficult to differentiate between legal and illegal rhinoceros horns, and traffickers would find it relatively easy to pass off horns acquired through poaching as legal. In such a situation it would be difficult for the responsible institutions to identify and punish poachers and traffickers.

The first legal rhino horn auction was held in South Africa in August 2017. Could these auction help rhinos?

This rhino horn auction was initiated by John Hume, the largest private rhino breeder in the world. Presently, he owns and breeds more than 1 500 rhinos. As he regularly dehorns rhinos on his ranch, he has now more than 6 tons of rhino horn in a secure holding. Despite protests of the government and conservationists, he was granted organisation of the auction by the court. Hume argues that the caring for and protecting rhinos against the poachers are too expensive. The sale of his rhino horn is in his opinion a way of raising money. However, conservationists doubt his motivation and tend to regard his action as a mere thirst for profit. They worry that the final destination of the horn would be East Asia. In fact, trade in rhino horn is legal only in South Africa, the country with no demand for it. Moreover, the official website of the Hume’s auction is not only in English, which is the official language in South Africa, but also in Vietnamese and Chinese. Even though the demand for rhino horn is highest in Vietnam and China, the import and trade in rhino horn is illegal in those countries. Thus it seems that new owners will try to smuggle the purchased horn into East – to China and Vietnam.

The argument of auction’s supporters is that by meeting the demand by legal rhino horn stocks from managed rhino ranches, the amount of horn on the black market would increase and so its price would fall. This would lead to reducing the incentive for poachers to kill wild rhinos. However, the amount of rhino horn from ranches cannot be enough to meet the demand at all. So the result could be the very opposite. Sellers would try to find new customers, demand would not fall and the rhinos would be under higher pressure than up to now. Moreover, if the rhinos go extinct the prices would rise to astronomical levels, resulting in private rhino ranch owners turning to billionaires. In short, the increased demand and pushing the rhinos to the brink of extinction could actually bring a great profit for some.

What, then, is the road to saving rhinoceroses?

Above all, we need to limit demand in countries where people buy rhinoceros horns – today, this means China and Vietnam in particular. At the same time, we must put pressure on the countries with the highest consumption of rhino horns to enforce existing laws and to take effective measures to halt the trade in rhinoceros horns. Another important measure is to reduce corruption in the source countries and transit countries, and in the countries where rhino horns are illegally sold.

 

Why are rhino horns being burned in the Czech Republic? Isn’t this a problem in Africa, China and Vietnam?

Zoological gardens such as the Dvůr Králové Zoo have been successful at keeping rhinoceroses outside of Africa, and have even managed to return bred rhinoceroses to places in Africa where they had previously been hunted to extinction. It is important to us that our work not be in vain.

In addition, citizens of the Czech Republic and other European countries have been involved in the killing of rhinoceroses as well. For instance, Czech hunters go to Africa to kill rhinoceroses as trophies. In the Czech Republic, they then sell the horns to criminal gangs that smuggle them to Asia. This feeds demand, which then leads to the further killing of rhinoceroses in the wild.

SUPPORTERS 

Richard Leakey

famed Kenyan anthropologist and conservationist who pioneered burning ivory and rhino horn stockpiles and dramatically reduced poaching in Kenya

„The slaughter of rhino is driven by trade in rhino horn. I have no doubts that intelligent, educated people world wide recognize that horn from this critically endangered animal is worthless. Burning it and ridiculing those who value it is an excellent idea. And those who try to sell it should be publicly condemned as they deliberately try to make personal profit on extinction of rhinos.“

Jane Goodall

world famous primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace

"I am convinced that lifting a CITES ban on the ivory and rhino horn trade would be criminal. For this reason, the best thing to do with rhino horn stockpiles is to destroy them. This will ensure that they never end up on the illegal market. I hope that more zoos and especially governments will be inspired by this demonstrative burning. We have to reduce the demand for rhino horn, not to perpetuate it by considering legalizing the trade. I am shocked to hear that the South African government has recently lifted a ban on selling horn from farmed rhinos as I believe that this will encourage poaching and perpetrate a belief that the horn is considered to have medicinal value."

Thu Minh

famous Vietnamese pop-singer

“Vietnam is well-known as a nice and friendly country. But in Africa I experienced how horrible things we cause to rhinos due to consumption of their horns. I know that in Vietnam we have made important steps to reduce demand, but the level of consumption is unfortunatelly still too high. We have to understand that for the future of rhinos and for the honor of our country we must stop buying rhino horn. The only way forward is to keep rhinos alive, not to trade with their body parts.”

Veronica Varekova

A world top model of Czech origin and Member of the African Wildlife Foundation board of trustees

"It is scientifically proven the rhino horn does not contain any healing properties, however it continues to be highly valued in some of Asian countries, mainly in Vietnam. As a consequence of the demand, more than 1350 rhinos were poached in the year 2015 in Africa – it means almost four animals a day."

Paula Kahumbu

Executive Director of Wildlife Direct

"It's World Rhino Day Tomorrow. I wish I could say I'm happy. I'm just back from Dvur Kravlove Zoo in the Czech Republic which was home to Sudan and the other Northern White Rhinos that were moved to Kenya a few years ago. Together with Zoo staff, Richard Leakey and Czech supermodel Veronika Varekova who is an AWF Board member, we burned their entire stock of rhino horn from zoo rhinos. It was a great event, and at the end we walked through the crowd with the host and asked people what they thought about the event. Expecting thanks and gratitude was a mistake! One man said he thought the event was "Controversial" so we asked why. "Because I don't see why we don't just sell these horns and use the money to save the rhinos" My heart sank. It made me think about John Hume and his argument that breeding rhinos to sell horns could help secure rhinos. Where do I start .... (I promised Veronika that I would keep my claws in but on this my heart is burning). Let me try The demand for rhino horn cannot be depressed by volume of horn. If it was that easy, they literally would be buying finger and toe nails because in fact, unbeknownst to the users, much of the horn in the market of Vietnam is fake! It's just buffalo horn - there's lots of it! So it's not volume, the value of horn stems from the fact that users are willing to pay stupid money for a product that they know comes from an endangered species on the brink of extinction. That price they are willing to pay is what is driving the illegal killing. But I think we have a very serous moral issue at hand. Is it right to reduce such a majestic species to a farm stock being raised just for it's horn to serve some ignorant people half a world away? And even if we can agree that Rhinos deserve to be in farms not the wild, is there not also a moral question about pouring fake medicine into the lives of people who think they are receiving life saving cure for cancer? To me, this issue is wrong on so many levels. We will lose rhinos because some people will always argue using simplistic economic arguments and we are in a paradigm of a world that runs on money. So many people have lost their moral compass, their connection to nature, they don't feel compassion or empathy for wild animals, and they are willing to gamble on the survival of species that did very well for 25 million years until we showed up with our idiotic cravings. As a result, we will witness the disappearance of yet another rhino species in the next 5 years which is how long the last 3 Northern Whites will survive. What we are doing is simply unacceptable. I am grieving because we left it too late for the Northern White rhinos, but we still have time to save the blacks and Southern Whites. My hope is that we can win the hearts and minds of Africans who I believe are the people that will decide the fate of these species. But we must also win over the users of horn through stigma. Like former fur users, those party animals who enjoyed a few grains of rhino horn in their drink as a party drug (that doesn't even work so I don't know why they even bother), will look back with deep shame at what they once thought was fashionable and cool. Burn Horn Save Rhinos!"

Monika Leová

Miss Earth Czech Republic 2013

“I have to admit that this is quite personal theme for me. I know from my close relatives that belief in the properties of rhino horn is still present in our culture, although in reality rhino horn has not such effects. It is necessary to show that buying rhino horn is just waste of money that leads to killing of rhinos. I believe that Vietnam, the country of my predecessors, has a unique chance to help to save these beautiful animals.”

Ian Craig

founder of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya

"I congratulate Dvur Kralove Zoo on again showing such strong conservation leadership through the destruction of their rhino horn stock piles. This gives the world a clear message that rhino horn like Ivory is but a remnant body part of a once free living animal not a piece of art nor a magical medicine."

Dung Nguyen

Vice Director of Education for Nature - Vietnam

"The killing of rhinos will only stop when the buying stops. The last rhino in Vietnam is gone, but we have a major part to play in ensuring this is not replicated elsewhere by curbing demand. Reducing consumer demand for rhino horn is key to saving this iconic species, along with improving legislation and ensuring improved law enforcement to deter poaching. The foot soldiers of poaching are important, but we need to be prosecuting the kingpins at the top of the criminal networks to finally shut them down for good."

African Wildlife Foundation (AWF)

the oldest conservationist organisation in Africa

"The African Wildlife Foundation commends the Dvůr Králové Zoo for taking this important step for the third consecutive year. This is a significant event coming barely three weeks after South Africa’s first legal auction of rhino horns. It signals the growing global commitment to help end the rhino slaughter. The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) believes that there are no adequate mechanisms at any level — local, national, regional, or international — to control rhino trade. Rhinos are still under heavy threat of poaching and protection must be tightened, not relaxed, without exception. In just a decade, more than 7,137 African rhinos have been lost to poaching. Experience as Africa's oldest conservation organization has taught us that decisions on sustainable trade in endangered species must be based on science and level of threat — not just legal points. We have already seen the damage a legal market can do with the elephant ivory trade over the past 25 years. The legal trade has muddied the waters for law enforcement combating illegal ivory trafficking, while removing the stigma once attached to owning, buying and selling ivory. This strategy has ultimately proven ineffective in stopping elephant poaching, and there is no reason to expect a different outcome for Africa’s rhino. Given a rhino’s slow reproduction rate, the decline in the continental population and the high value and demand for horn, there is no realistic scope for achieving a sustainable balance between production and supply."

Colin Bell

Conservationist, works on the projects of the responsible and sustainable tourism in Africa called Green Safari model

"The Dvur Kralove burn in my view is an excellent statement especially because so much of the horn that end up in Vietnam, travels via Eastern and Central Europe and the Czech Republic in particular."

Dereck Joubert

National Geographic Explorer in Residence, filmmaker and expert for African big cats

"It is unethical to sell a commodity that does not work as advertised, it morally bankrupt if it comes to market by slaughtering an innocent bystander like a rhino. Their extinction will be our collective failure at being the best versions of ourselves."

Damien Mander

conservationist working in Mozambique

"Conducting burns is indeed symbolic, but the true potential of government lies in their overall political will to attack organised wildlife crime from the top down and bottom up. Political will is the key ingredient, however most governments view responsibilities towards animals and the environment as a burden. The long term costs will far outweigh short term savings, and we will all pay that price."

TAKE ACTION!

HELP RHINOS TO SURVIVE!

IF YOU WANT TO HELP RHINOS TO SURVIVE, THEN NEVER TAKE ANY PART IN THE TRADE IN RHINO HORN. IT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD ALSO LET THE OTHERS KNOW ABOUT YOUR STAND. TELL YOUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES TO NEVER BUY RHINO HORN – ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE FROM VIETNAM OR CHINA.
Tell your friends and relatives about consequences of the trade in rhino horn as well. By any purchased piece of rhino horn you help to finance criminal gangs that torture alive rhinos by cutting their horns off; that kill rangers; that frighten and terrorize communities near wildlife reserves; that bribe officers; that lie to their customers about rhino horn properties.

Support organizations that take effective measures to save rhinos and reduce the demand in consumer countries.

Push your politicians to take wildlife crisis seriously and stand up in defence of the wild animals. In this regard, even small countries can be of important voice on international fora. We are loosing not only rhinos, but elephants, lions, cheetahs and many other stunningly beautiful species as well.