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Ten years ago, the United States initiated a wave of global momentum to protect elephants from poaching and ivory trafficking.

A regional South African court is facilitating a dangerous scheme to export rhino horn to known trafficking hotspots without effective government oversight or safeguards, and without the approval of governments that are party to CITES.  

Rhino breeders in South Africa are attempting to bend international wildlife trade regulations to their will and undermine decades of South African law to circumvent the ban on international rhino horn trade.

EIA is deeply disappointed that South Africa’s new Biodiversity Management Plan to guide the country’s rhino conservation efforts retains dangerous actions to bring about domestic and international commercial trade in rhino horn.

By analyzing court verdicts, EIA’s new report sheds light on the routes, methods, and networks involved in supplying rhino horn to Chinese consumers and China’s criminal justice response to rhino horn trafficking.

EIA encourages China to remain steadfast in its approach to rhino horn trafficking, to enhance transparency of its wildlife crime enforcement, and to take a leadership role in the global effort to protect rhinoceroses by sharing its experiences and expertise with other countries affected by rhino poaching and illegal trade.