News Story III:
“If South Africa Lifts The Ban On Trading Rhino Horns, Will Rhinos Benefit?” from
NPR featuring John Hume, a private game rancher in South Africa who owns 1,300 rhinos (more than anybody in the world, some are pictured above from a National Geographic profile on
his rhino ranch) and 10,000 pounds of rhino horns.
South Africa’s highest court is preparing to decide whether to uphold the country’s domestic ban on trading rhino horn. Supporters of the ban say striking it down would encourage international smuggling of rhino horn, which fuels poaching. But private rhino owners like Hume contend that meeting demand for rhino horn is the best way to curb poaching and save the species.
On the black market, the price of rhino horn can fetch more than gold. In an effort to stem poaching, international trade was banned in 1977 under
CITES, the multilateral treaty that regulates wildlife trade in order to protect endangered species.
In South Africa, domestic trade in rhino has been illegal since 2009. But poaching has only increased. Hume says the only way to save the species it to sell the horn.
In order to protect his animals, Hume spends more than $200,000 a month in security. “I will run out of money. I will run out of protection of my rhinos,” he says. “I will not indefinitely be able to afford the helicopters, the soldiers, the radars.”
Rhino horn grows back if not fully removed from the animal, and Hume regularly trims it off his animals. He has stockpiled 5 tons of the stuff.
Economic Lesson: When private property rights for a valuable asset like rhinos or elephants are not allowed (like in most African countries), and/or when commercial sale of valuable assets like rhino horns or elephant ivory are illegal (like in all of Africa), the results are predictable: The herds of rhinos and elephants will decrease over time due to illegal poaching (1,175 rhinos were poached last year in South Africa – home to 80% of the world’s rhinos – up from only 13 rhinos in 2007) and illegal sales of horns and ivory. In other words, it’s the predicable economic outcome known as the “tragedy of the commons.”
When a valuable asset like elephants or rhino are owned in common by everybody, there is no financial incentive to provide good care and stewardship of those animals. The tragedy is the predictable outcome that those assets like rhinos and elephants will decline in numbers. In contrast, when private ownership and commercial use are allowed for rhinos and elephants, the economic incentives of private property and financial rewards will produce a predictable outcome: greater numbers of elephants and rhinos (for example, John Hume’s rhino herd has been increasing by nearly 200 per year).