Grapevine

By News 24
Jul 26, 2024

SA sets target for plan to lift ban on rhino-horn trade

The proposal is controversial because poaching of the animals for their horns has decimated populations across Africa.

The horns are ground into powder and sold in east Asia, where they are falsely believed to cure cancer and other ailments.

For climate change news and analysis, go to News24 Climate Future.

South Africa, where 79% of the world's rhinos live, said it aims to come up with a plan by the end of 2030 to dismantle an almost half-century ban on trading the endangered animals' horns.

The proposal, contained in a draft of the country's first rhino biodiversity-management plan released late Tuesday, is controversial because poaching of the animals for their horns has decimated their populations across Africa. The horns are ground into powder and sold in east Asia where they are falsely believed to cure cancer and other ailments.