Britain to campaign for saving rhinos
August 15th, 2011 - 9:37 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Aug 15 (IANS) Britain is going to lead a campaign this week to save the rhino from extinction.
Rhinos are being slaughtered across Africa at the rate of nearly one a day by criminal gangs for their horns - now worth more than heroin, cocaine or gold, Daily Express reported.
These pachyderms are poached for their ivory.
Environment Minister Richard Benyon, who also has the backing of European Union member states, has said Britain will press for a complete ban on rhino horn sales and try to block plans for a new sale of ivory stocks.
“We will also try to tackle the source of the demand for rhino horn - traditional Chinese medicine which grinds it down for many remedies even though there is no proof it works,” he said.
Demand for rhino horn has been fuelled in recent months by claims from Vietnam that it can cure cancer.
Benyon wants a Geneva meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to declare that there is no scientific evidence for its medicinal properties.
The British initiative is being launched at a time when rhino horn is fetching 50,000 pounds a kilo.
- Rhino poaching on rise in South Africa - May 09, 2012
- One-horned rhino killed in Kaziranga park - Oct 28, 2010
- South African game park officials arrested for rhino poaching - Mar 01, 2012
- $65,000 reward to nab South Africa rhino poachers - Feb 13, 2012
- Supermodel Elle Macpherson blasted for advocating the use of Chinese medicine made from rhino's horn - Jul 07, 2010
- Vietnamese man held with rhino horns - Apr 24, 2012
- 'Lack of political will behind conservation woes' (With Image) - May 19, 2012
- Poachers kill two rhinos in Kaziranga - Dec 22, 2009
- Rhino poaching surge in South Africa - Jan 13, 2012
- Three rhinos found dead in Kenyan national park - Apr 15, 2012
- 220 rhinos killed in South Africa this year - May 23, 2012
- Elle Macpherson under fire over illegal rhino remedy - Jul 06, 2010
- Elle MacPherson Promotes the Use of Illegal Powder of Endangered Rhino Horn - Jul 07, 2010
- Javan rhino is extinct in Vietnam - Oct 25, 2011
- Demand for rhino horn fuels poaching in India, Africa - Jul 27, 2009
Tags: chinese medicine, cocaine, criminal gangs, daily express, endangered species, environment minister, european union, european union member states, extinction, heroin, horns, international trade, ivory stocks, kilo, pachyderms, rhino, rhino horn, rhinos, traditional chinese medicine, union member states