Is Banning the Bane of wildlife?

1979, that was the year where over a 100 countries agreed to push for the ban in the trading of rhinoceros’ horns. However, over 30 years after the agreement, an estimated 1000 rhinoceros were killed for their horns in 2013, an increase from around 668 in the year 2012. Considering the ban on the trade of rhinoceros’ horns, why then have the slaughtering of rare animals not ceased, but instead, are still prevailing and rising? In this blogpost, I will be discussing about the possibility of reducing illegal wildlife trafficking through the legalisation of such trade.

Could legalisation of trade be the way to go to protect these animals?

“Since the trade ban was imposed in China 14 years ago, prices of tiger parts (such as penises, paws and bones) had surged sky high on the black market[1]”. The ban on wildlife products have raised the values of these products significantly, as it makes it harder to hunt for the products, whereby only the skilful and the professional are capable enough to make use of the loopholes and flaws in the system. As the prices of wildlife products are driven sky high by the ban on the products, removing the ban could potentially increase the supplies of products in the market through a sustainable farming (click to read more about sustainable farming of animal products such as the rhinoceros’ horns), and hence decreasing the price on the market.

 

Dehorning of a rhinoceros to protect it from poachers

As mentioned in the previous post, since animal products are often seen as a luxurious item, perhaps the increase in supply and, hence the decrease in price, would make such products less luxurious. (Assuming that the products are considered luxurious due to their scarcity and price) An example of success, in Peru, where the legalization of the sales of wool from vicuña helped to save the animal from extinction.  

The legalisation of sales of wool from vicuña helped increase its population size from a mere 5000 to more than 200000 today.

Would the legalisation of sustainable wildlife trading stimulate better protection from the suppliers' side? Is the legalisation of the sales a smart choice, or would it further aggravate the situation? In my next few blog posts, I will be further discussing about the pros and cons of legalising wildlife trade.  

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[1] http://www.asiabiotech.com/publication/apbn/11/english/preserved-docs/1117n18/1196_1197.pdf