Carlos Drews, head of WWF’s delegation at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) issued the following statement today in response to decisions from world governments to offer better protection for rhinos:
“Governments today made a clear choice at CITES to offer more protection to rhinos by agreeing on timelines that will help two of the worst offenders in the rhino horn trade, Viet Nam and Mozambique, clean up their act.
“This is a big step forward for the protection of rhinos, a prehistoric animal that are being butchered for their horns at alarming rates to feed demand primarily in Viet Nam.
“A record 668 South African rhinos were killed by poachers last year, and close to 150 have died so far in 2013 – we’re already moving at a pace that could see even more rhinos killed for their horns than last year.
“The challenge now is to ensure that Viet Nam and Mozambique make progress on their CITES commitments within the agreed time frame to avoid trade sanctions in the summer of 2014.”
Viet Nam is the main destination for rhino horn and is now required to implement a strategy to reduce demand in the country and ensure horn traffickers are prosecuted and strongly punished.
Today’s success also means that Mozambique, a major transit country for rhino horn, must strengthen legislation and enforcement to reduce trade flows exiting the African continent. It is currently only a misdemeanour to smuggle rhino horns through Mozambique. The country shares a border with South Africa’s Kruger National Park, home to most of the world’s rhinos and also the epicentre of illegal killing.
Rhino poaching has hit record highs and is currently exacerbated by increasingly sophisticated criminal networks. There is also a marked increase in consumption in Vietnam, fuelled by claims that rhino horn cures cancer and hangovers.
For further information:
Ian Morrison, ian.morrison@wwfus.org, (US) +1 202 372 6373, (Bangkok) +66 904 143 853
Chris Chaplin, cchaplin@wwf.sg, +65 9826 3802
About WWF
WWF is one of the world’s largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with over 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.
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