SA_F_2015_04_

56 SA Flyer

FEATURE - WYNAND UYS

The ‘Rhino Jab’, a Jabiru J170, ZU-OPS,

was deployed in September 2013 by

Jabiru SA as a tactical intervention

in the fight against rhino poaching.

Its crew of five volunteers serves the

330,000 hectare coalition of game

reserves west of Kruger National Park,

known as Game Reserves United (GRU).

While engaged in what appears to

be an endless war, we can’t help but

wonder about the broader issues that

fuel the war, and how interventions at

a strategic level could turn the driving

forces in our favour. The issue of

legalising rhino horn trade has deeply

divided the conservation community.

T

HE views I am about to express are my own

and should not be construed as the views of our

sponsors and funding agencies.

Thanks to the generosity of Jabiru SA and the

support of SA Flyer readers, GRU has the tactical

advantage in the field. This is evidenced by the

number of arrests and eliminations that we are

achieving and the comparatively low (but still unacceptable) rhino

loss rate in our area.

Driven by the ever increasing value of contraband rhino horn,

bands of poachers are becoming more numerous and more brazen.

According to the US-based strategy and policy advisory firm,

Dalberg, the black market value of rhino horn is now US$60,000

per kg. That makes it more valuable than gold, platinum or cocaine.

Hence, rhino require increasing levels of protection.

According to the Private Rhino Owners Association (PROA),

the private sector, which owns 25% of the SA rhino population,

spends R272 million per year on security. Inclusive of state and

provincial reserves, PROA estimates that South Africa now spends

about R1 billion a year to protect, virtually, the last remaining rhino

populations in Africa. If we can believe the Dalberg claim of the

black market value of rhino horn, multiplied by 1,200 rhino that are

poached per year at an average of 2.5 kg of horn per rhino, the rhino

crime network should be netting more than R1.5 billion a year.

In the present scenario, a dead rhino (its stolen horn set) is

worth much more than a live rhino. Jacques Britz, the Timbavati

Warden, says: “Organised Crime is making use of a business

opportunity we have made available to them, by instituting a trade

The Rhino Jab series:

OPINIONS ON

LEGAL TRADE IN RHINO HORN

Illegal vs legal horn harvesting.