JOHANNESBURG - Namibia and South Africa want to lift a ban on hunting the rare black rhino, a move certain to draw protests from conservationists who say the species is still recovering from decades of rampant poaching.
Both countries have made submissions seeking approval for potentially lucrative black rhino hunts at
next month's meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which regulates the global trade in wild animals.
Black rhino populations were decimated by poaching and fell in the mid-1990s to around 2400 animals in the wild from 65,000 just two decades before.
Poachers typically hack off the horns - prized in the Middle East as dagger handles and in East Asia for medicinal purposes - and leave the great carcasses to rot in the sun.
The species has since recovered somewhat thanks to anti-poaching measures in South Africa and Namibia as well as the development of lucrative game farming. A recent estimate put black rhino numbers at 3600, the vast majority in South Africa and Namibia.
Namibia is seeking an annual quota of five rhinos for trophy hunters out of its estimated population of 1134 while South Africa wants to hunt 10 of its estimated 1200 black rhinos a year.
"Ten males per year out of a total population of approximately 1200 would have no impact," South Africa said in its submission to the Cites secretariat.
Black rhinos have been strictly protected by Cites since 1977.
Conservationists say there is no reason for complacency.
Namibia makes the argument that limited hunting would raise valuable conservation funds.
"All revenue from hunting will be reinvested in conservation programmes," it said in its submission.
Limited hunting of far more numerous white rhinos is allowed in South Africa and has certainly proved to be lucrative.
Hunters pay on average between US$20,000 ($30,665) and US$25,000 ($38,331) for a white rhino.
- REUTERS
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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