JOHANNESBURG -- Rhino horn will go on sale legally in South Africa in late August, after a court lifted a domestic trade ban in April. Many expect much of the horn to find its way to East Asia, even though South Africa remains committed to a worldwide ban on international trading.
The ruling, by South Africa's Constitutional Court, has sparked concerns that legalizing the domestic trade will provide trafficking loopholes for horns destined for markets such as China, Laos and Hong Kong, the three main destinations for horns smuggled out of South Africa. Indeed, on Aug. 12, Hong Kong Customs seized 2.6kg of "suspected rhino horn," with an estimated market value of $67,000, from an airline passenger arriving from Johannesburg.
