White rhino need to be down-listed
In a move said to enhance the protection of white rhino in Namibia, the ministry has asked CITES for a down-listing of the species.
Concern has been expressed that private owners in Namibia will be forced to dispose of their white rhino, which constitute the largest part of the Namibian rhino population.
The primary motivation for this has been described as the tremendous cost of keeping them.
Namibia listed this as one of the biggest threats to the white rhino population in a proposal to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Namibia has proposed to down-list its population of white rhinos to Appendix II.
The document submitted to CITES says that the increasing financial burden caused by the increase in the threat of illegal killing needs to be addressed through the sustainable use of white rhino. This is possible with the down-listing.
It says the costs of protection have and can be expected to continue to escalate, increasingly making white rhino a liability to conservation authorities, private and communal landowners.
Furthermore, existing benefit streams from tourism, limited trophy hunting and live sales of rhino are not sufficient to offset these security costs.
“In order for Namibia's private sector to be encouraged to participate meaningfully in the conservation of white rhino, an economically conducive climate needs to be created,” it says.
Namibia holds the second largest white rhino population in the world after South Africa.
The population in 2017/18 stood at 1 037, based on aerial surveys.
The white rhino population in Namibia has grown from the initial introduction of 16 animals in 1975 to the current figure.
According to the report the majority of white rhino in Namibia are privately owned with large numbers imported from South Africa since 2012. The current privately-owned population comprises 780 animals, while the state-owned population in 2018 was 267 animals in three protected areas.
Furthermore the report says trade limitations reduce opportunities for government conservation departments and the private sector to generate much needed funding for conservation.
Anti-poaching programmes are expensive, and their long-term effectiveness is threatened by declining budgets and sources of income.
From 2008 to 2018 a total of 57 white rhino were hunted, thus on average 5.2 per year, while a total of five white rhinos were hunted in 2018. The report says that a significant number of adult males are periodically dehorned which reduces the number that can be hunted in each year.
“Demand for white rhino from private farmers in Namibia is high. White rhino continues to be imported from South Africa because of this demand and the greater availability of white rhino in South Africa.”
Over the past ten years, permits to import 508 white rhino from South Africa were issued, with imports drastically increasing since 2012.
The report notes that although Namibia has exported 27 white rhino from 2008 to 2018 to Angola, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa the “primarily commercial purposes” restriction applying to Appendix I animals has severely limited Namibia's ability to generate revenues for conservation.
Transferring the population to Appendix II will create access to a far larger market for white rhinos.
The report explains that the transfer of South Africa's population to Appendix II resulted in the rapid increase in live rhino sale prices.
The prices for Appendix I white rhino in Namibia are lower than the South African prices because marketing opportunities are far more restricted.
South African buyers will not pay Appendix II market-related prices for Appendix I animals due to the restrictions that apply to Appendix I animals. Namibian buyers on the other hand will not pay Appendix II prices to acquire additional rhino if they lose market value by such rhino acquiring Appendix I status upon their import into Namibia.
“Namibia can thus not find sufficient markets for surplus live rhino and encourage meaningful private sector participation in rhino conservation in a commercially driven economy with the existing CITES Appendix I restrictions and conditions,” according to the report.
Namibia's proposal therefore is simply a down-listing proposal, with no consequential actions being implemented other than to facilitate the trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable destinations, and legally hunted trophies which in turn will enhance the conservation of the species and its habitat.
ELLANIE SMIT
The primary motivation for this has been described as the tremendous cost of keeping them.
Namibia listed this as one of the biggest threats to the white rhino population in a proposal to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Namibia has proposed to down-list its population of white rhinos to Appendix II.
The document submitted to CITES says that the increasing financial burden caused by the increase in the threat of illegal killing needs to be addressed through the sustainable use of white rhino. This is possible with the down-listing.
It says the costs of protection have and can be expected to continue to escalate, increasingly making white rhino a liability to conservation authorities, private and communal landowners.
Furthermore, existing benefit streams from tourism, limited trophy hunting and live sales of rhino are not sufficient to offset these security costs.
“In order for Namibia's private sector to be encouraged to participate meaningfully in the conservation of white rhino, an economically conducive climate needs to be created,” it says.
Namibia holds the second largest white rhino population in the world after South Africa.
The population in 2017/18 stood at 1 037, based on aerial surveys.
The white rhino population in Namibia has grown from the initial introduction of 16 animals in 1975 to the current figure.
According to the report the majority of white rhino in Namibia are privately owned with large numbers imported from South Africa since 2012. The current privately-owned population comprises 780 animals, while the state-owned population in 2018 was 267 animals in three protected areas.
Furthermore the report says trade limitations reduce opportunities for government conservation departments and the private sector to generate much needed funding for conservation.
Anti-poaching programmes are expensive, and their long-term effectiveness is threatened by declining budgets and sources of income.
From 2008 to 2018 a total of 57 white rhino were hunted, thus on average 5.2 per year, while a total of five white rhinos were hunted in 2018. The report says that a significant number of adult males are periodically dehorned which reduces the number that can be hunted in each year.
“Demand for white rhino from private farmers in Namibia is high. White rhino continues to be imported from South Africa because of this demand and the greater availability of white rhino in South Africa.”
Over the past ten years, permits to import 508 white rhino from South Africa were issued, with imports drastically increasing since 2012.
The report notes that although Namibia has exported 27 white rhino from 2008 to 2018 to Angola, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Africa the “primarily commercial purposes” restriction applying to Appendix I animals has severely limited Namibia's ability to generate revenues for conservation.
Transferring the population to Appendix II will create access to a far larger market for white rhinos.
The report explains that the transfer of South Africa's population to Appendix II resulted in the rapid increase in live rhino sale prices.
The prices for Appendix I white rhino in Namibia are lower than the South African prices because marketing opportunities are far more restricted.
South African buyers will not pay Appendix II market-related prices for Appendix I animals due to the restrictions that apply to Appendix I animals. Namibian buyers on the other hand will not pay Appendix II prices to acquire additional rhino if they lose market value by such rhino acquiring Appendix I status upon their import into Namibia.
“Namibia can thus not find sufficient markets for surplus live rhino and encourage meaningful private sector participation in rhino conservation in a commercially driven economy with the existing CITES Appendix I restrictions and conditions,” according to the report.
Namibia's proposal therefore is simply a down-listing proposal, with no consequential actions being implemented other than to facilitate the trade in live animals to appropriate and acceptable destinations, and legally hunted trophies which in turn will enhance the conservation of the species and its habitat.
ELLANIE SMIT
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