RHINO POACHING IS AN UGLY BUSINESS
- O&A Team
- September 24, 2025
- Business, Features
- Addo Elephant National Park, International Rhino Foundation, IRF, Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, Rhino conservation, Rhino dehorning, Rhino horn trafficking, Rhino poaching, State of the Rhino Report 2025
- 0 Comments
O&A lifts the lid on the supply and demand driven world of rhino poaching and horn trafficking
The trade and trafficking of rhino horn represents one of the most urgent conservation challenges we face. Driven by a complex interplay of cultural beliefs, socioeconomic issues and organized crime, this illegal trade has pushed rhino species to the brink of extinction.
“Despite global bans and increased protection efforts, poaching and illicit trafficking persist, raising critical questions about enforcement, education and international cooperation. At the heart of the crisis is persistent demand,” says Nina Fascione, executive director of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF).
Every September, the IRF publishes its signature report, State of the Rhino, which documents current population estimates and trends as well as key challenges and conservation developments. It is dedicated to the committed individuals in African and Asian rhino range countries and pays tribute to their sacrifices.
THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND ANOMOLY
Although this year’s report suggests that poaching has not risen with rhino populations stabilising to some extent, there are still some alarming developments. At the end of the day, this is the stuff of organised crime, global business cartels and more. As such, similar trends that apply to global commodity trade – from gold to oil and other resources – come into play. Less availability drives up prices and greater perceived value again sparks more demand.
Right now, with geopolitical risks and tariff wars prevailing, the price of gold is skyrocketing as investors seek out safe havens amid the turmoil. Sadly, nothing stops these same investors looking to more sinister commodities.
The IRP report, which also outlines trends in trade and trafficking of rhino horn, notes an emerging illegal rhino horn trade link between Mongolia and South Africa and identifies Qatar as a growing hub for horn trafficking. Globally, total seizures and weight of seizures have dropped, which could be due in part to protection measures. However, it could also be a result of better smuggling or the fact that there are fewer rhinos left to poach.
According to Rhino Conservation in Africa, rhino horn is now one of the most valuable materials on Earth: “In some countries, it is worth more than its weight in gold. But it is worth pointing out again that this huge amount of money gains the buyer nothing more than a very large toenail (or nose nail to be more exact).”
However, the organisation warns that as rhino numbers dwindle, the price of horn rises and suggests that customers in some parts of East Asia now buy rhino horns purely as a grotesque symbol of wealth, sometimes even using them to close business deals. This creates a vicious cycle of reduced supply and increased demand.
The IRF Report suggests that nothing has really changed. Demand still comes primarily from China and Vietnam: “Currently, the largest driver of demand is for decorative carvings and trinkets like cups, bracelets and pendants. In traditional Chinese medicine, the horn is believed to have curative properties, primarily for reducing fevers. There is no scientific evidence to support this belief.”
This is somewhat bewildering in an age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), smart technology and scientific discovery – until one looks to the growing demand for so-called luxury goods that extend from vintage branded clothing and watches to super cars, vintage vehicles, limited edition whiskeys and spirits.
TRAFFICKING NETWORKS
It comes as no surprise that the IRF report reveals that rhino horn smuggling relies on transnational criminal networks which smuggle horns across borders through corrupt officials, forged documents and elaborate concealment techniques.
On the transit side, in ports of exit and entry, officials will ensure cargo or luggage is not inspected so horn can pass through customs. At international borders, law enforcement will look the other way as horn is smuggled through. South Africa’s porous borders – which include transfrontier conservation areas – are a case in point.
However, as the IRF observes, the smuggling routes are varied and shifting. Horn is primarily smuggled by air as traffickers can hide small amounts in luggage. Even small quantities are still very valuable. After rhinos are poached in Africa, their horns are often shipped out of Mozambique and Angola and might pass through the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, which have common routes for international flights, as well as Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia.
These trafficking routes can intersect with other illegal activities, such as drug and arms trafficking, highlighting the broader criminal ecosystem involved.
DOING THE NUMBERS
Africa is home to the world’s populations of black and white rhinos. According to the IRF, at the end of 2024, there were an estimated 22 540 rhinos on the continent – 6 788 black rhinos and 15752 white rhinos. Black rhino numbers increased by 5.2% since 2023, while white rhinos declined by 1,712 individuals between 2023 and 2024.
In 2024, 516 poaching incidents were recorded in Africa – less than the 540 incidents documented in 2021 at CoP19. Of the 516 poaching incidents, 81.4% occurred in South Africa. The average yearly poaching rate in Africa fell to 2.15% of the total population in 2024.
From the end of 2021 to the end of 2024, 1849 southern white rhinos were killed by poachers, a yearly average of 2.79% of the population.
Between the end of 2021 and the end of 2024, eight eastern black rhinos were killed by poachers; 143 south-central black rhinos were illegally killed; and 212 south-western black rhinos were killed.
According to South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, 103 rhinos were lost to poachers during the first quarter of 2025 – a figure that is almost certainly much higher now. This equates to over 34 rhinos per month or, to make it more real, the loss of one rhino every day at the very least.
Right now, it seems that the Kruger National Park, which is home to the highest rhino population, is the chief source of supply – although, as was admitted to O&A during a visit to one of the Ezemvelo KZN facilities, poachers approach harvesting horn in much the same way as wily business men and move from one reserve to another as soon as the guards go up.
Private reserves have not been spared with many now electing to no longer include rhinos simply because of the massive costs of keeping them safe. The end result is that rhino habitats are shrinking.
As the IRF observes, median rhino populations in South Africa are well below numbers recommended by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) African Rhino Specialist Group, meaning that many rhino populations are too small to be considered reproductively and genetically viable. Put simply, these population sizes are well below the levels required to avoid inbreeding.
NO SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
As the IRF report notes, socio-political complexities make it hard to end poaching.
Africa is home to the majority of the world’s rhinos and where most rhino poaching occurs. To help curb the killings, the IRF actively supports strategically selected rhino reserves and security clusters that have demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting their rhino populations. By investing in proven, evidence-based interventions, while also encouraging innovation and forward-thinking approaches, the IRF is making meaningful and measurable contributions to rhino conservation and protection efforts in Africa.
“Poaching is a complex organized crime requiring a whole-of-government solution – yet the bulk of the response continues to fall on the conservation sector. In South Africa, systemic corruption at the highest levels of national security has eroded trust and weakened law enforcement efforts. The South African Police Service is reportedly operating with severe detective shortages, staggering case backlogs and limited resources. Only a few investigators are assigned to rhino and wildlife crime,” the report states.
It is also an open secret that wildlife officials – and especially those working for government institutions – are targets for bribery, blackmail and even death.
The IRF Report continues: “An official unemployment rate of 32.9 percent, persistently high crime levels, dysfunctional government systems and steep budget cuts compound the crisis in South Africa. Organized crime thrives in this environment, bolstered by embedded corruption including among reserve staff, limited investigative and prosecutorial capacity, slow court proceedings and the routine granting of bail to repeat offenders.”
Corruption amongst reserve staff can take the form of rangers or other park staff providing information on the location of rhinos to poaching syndicates or standing down when poaching operations are happening. In some cases, rangers have engaged in poaching.
“Rhino reserves are not only fighting poaching on the ground but are also left to contend with broader issues such as poverty, entrenched criminality and collapsing municipal services in communities along their boundaries,” adds Elise Serfontein, IRF’s South Africa advisor and founding director of Stop Rhino Poaching, a South Africa-based organization that Serfontein created in 2010 as a response to the poaching crisis.
“Hard-won conservation gains and their sustained investment into social upliftment projects are being overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge – particularly in areas like the Greater Kruger landscape, which borders densely populated communities numbering in the millions,” Serfontein says.
However, as with managing larger species such as elephants, the only workable solutions must see local communities actively engaged with reducing threats to rhinos and ensuring the sustainability of conservation efforts.
“We cannot succeed in protecting rhino populations unless the people who live alongside rhinos benefit from and support conservation efforts. When communities thrive, it helps wildlife thrive. We must work to develop sustainable income opportunities that strengthen local communities and reduce pressure on protected areas and endangered species,” the IRF says.
FIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE
The IRF supports law enforcement in the battle against rhino poaching and illegal trade and trafficking. It is important to hold the on-the-ground poachers accountable but there is a growing need to target and apprehend the masterminds that sit higher up the chain of criminal networks.
Additionally, poachers need to be arrested, convicted and imprisoned, with strong sentences to deter them from becoming repeat offenders.
To a limited extent this message seems to be getting through to the SAPS and courts in South Africa. The most obvious is the 110-year sentence handed down to Zimbabwean national Thomas Chauke in February 2025 for six counts of poaching followed by a 20-year sentence for a Mozambican man in May 2025 and 11-year sentences for two poachers this month (September 2025).
But this is the tip of a rhino shaped iceberg.
Throughout, demand reduction remains the most critical aspect of stemming the poaching crisis says the IRF: “A lot of good work has been done to reduce demand for rhino horn, and there appears to be less horn moving into Asian countries than in the past, but that work must continue.
“Another important element is international cooperation and information sharing. Many countries are doing better with enforcement within their own borders, but these networks are vast and span the globe, so there must be a collaborative international effort. Part of this effort includes financial investigations – following the money – to map out worldwide criminal networks.”
As the report outlines, demand reduction campaigns should focus on changing the behaviour of would-be or current horn consumers. Such campaigns include media advertising, public service announcements and working with influential stakeholders so the right messengers are spreading the word that they don’t want or need these wildlife products in medicines.”
TECHNOLOGY TO THE RESCUE
On the ground, solutions continue to include removing rhino’s horns: “The IRF supports horn trimming, when combined with other proven security measures, to help stop rhino killing. We have provided significant funding in grants for white and black rhino horn trimming operations in South Africa’s Kruger National Park and other rhino reserves. As a science-based organization, we were encouraged when a study came out earlier this year showing rhinos that had their horns trimmed were less likely to be killed by poachers. The study analyzed data from 11 reserves in the Greater Kruger region – home to roughly 25 percent of all of Africa’s rhinos – from 2017 to 2023. In the areas where rhino horns were trimmed, poaching was reduced by 78 percent,” the report states.
But horn trimming alone will not stop poaching and comes at a price, too. Rhino Conservation in Africa estimated that each individual horn trimming costs $2,000 (around R34 000). This means that to horn trim every rhino in South Africa would cost tens of millions – funds that conservationists in Africa don’t have.
However, as IRF Executive Director Nina Fascione told The Washington Post when the study was released, poachers may still target rhinos for the nub of horn that remains after trimming.
When horn trimming is combined with daily monitoring, safe and protected habitat, engagement with local communities and other safeguards, rhinos have the best chance at survival.
Traditionally, methods like ear tags, horn implants and ankle collars have been used to track and monitor rhinos. However, with such massive animals roaming the bush, the ear and ankle devices are sometimes damaged. So far, horn implants have shown promise, but they can only be used on animals with horns large enough to contain transmitters.
To help provide a solution, the IRF funded efforts by the Munywana Conservancy in South Africa to develop new technology for addressing the challenge of monitoring horn-trimmed rhinos.
Through testing, the Conservancy’s researchers found they could effectively glue GPS tracking devices, known as pods, to the posterior horn stumps of black and white rhinos.
AI, too, is bolstering rhino conservation.
Thanks to funding from IRF, reserves have successfully deployed 66 artificial intelligence-enhanced rhino foot collars, significantly expanding monitoring coverage in high-risk areas across South Africa.
This technology is known as the Rouxcel Rhino Watch monitoring system and was implemented in four IRF-supported rhino reserves including Lapalala Wilderness Reserve, Addo Elephant National Park and Kwandwe Private Game Reserve.
This monitoring system detects and transmits alerts in real-time about abnormal rhino behaviour, which could indicate poaching attempts. The IRF’s funding also supported the purchase of 79 internet gateways, devices that enable communication between a private network and the public internet.
The Rouxcel system is enhancing the successful security measures already in place in the reserves and is one of multiple interventions used to protect these rhinos. Thanks to this enhanced tracking and a quicker deployment of ground and drone response teams, all user reserves have continued to have little to no known rhino poaching.
Beyond the Rhino Status Report, 2025 is an extremely important year for rhino conservation policy. The 20th Conference of the Parties (CoP) of signatories to CITES, the global wildlife trade agreement, takes place late in 2025 and provides an opportunity to review the progress of global rhino conservation efforts. During the CoP, the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and Save the Rhino International will facilitate a panel discussion with rhino conservation, wildlife trade and law enforcement experts, as well as representatives from rhino range states and CITES Parties. Rhinos will also be in the spotlight at the World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi in October.
