Hunting_White Rhino_South Africa and Namibia

Emma_Hemmerle — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 09:39:28 +0000

Hunting_White Rhino_South Africa and Namibia Emma_Hemmerle Fri, 02/11/2022 - 09:39

Affiliation

IIED

Date Of Record Entry

Fri, 02/11/2022 - 12:00

Type of wild species covered by the record

Wild species used in its natural habitat

Stage of the value chain covered by the record

Unknown/not recorded

Record Source

“Grey” literature (e.g., NGO reports, case studies, non-detriment studies; project documents etc. (not necessarily peer-reviewed))

Hunting of Rhinos in South Africa and Namibia

Decreasing

Is the species endemic HIDE

Population Status

Unknown/not recorded

Formal international protection in place

International Level

CITES listing

National Level

Unknown/not recorded

Threats/Pressures impacting the conservation of the species

Illegal/Unregulated Hunting

Climate Change

Invasive Species

Population Trend

Increasing

Sub-national Level

Unknown/not recorded

Additional Details (if available)

The main threat to the population is illegal hunting (poaching) to supply the illegal international rhino horn trade. It is estimated that currently around 95% of rhino horn sourced in Africa for end user illegal markets in SE Asia are from this source (Emslie et al. 2019). Rhino horn has traditionally had two main uses: use in Chinese medicine, and ornamental use.

Name

Emma Hemmerlé

Scientific Name

Ceratotherium simum

Common Name(s)

White Rhino

Type of Use

Extractive (i.e., the entire organism or parts of the organism are removed from its environment)

If extractive, for the target species, is this use

Lethal

Does this use involve take/extraction of

The whole entire organism

How is the primary use carried out?

Hunting and/or Trapping of live Terrestrial and Aerial Animals

Are specific characteristics/traits being targeted?

Unknown/not recorded

Purpose of Use

Income generation from trade at individual or household or community

Recreational

What is the main end use for any living organisms, parts or products taken/extracted?

Speciment collecting, including hunting/fishing trophies

Amount

62.00

Units Of Measurement

number of white rhinos hunted in a year in south africa

Time period over which this has been recorded

2015

What is the trend in the level of offtake within the period covered by this record?

Unknown/Not Recorded

Is there a regulatory or customary regime in place to govern this use?

Yes, customary but regular non-compliance

Additional Details (if available)

The hunting of small numbers of specific individual “surplus” male Black Rhino is approved in South Africa only if specific criteria set out in the country’s approved black rhino biodiversity management plan are met.
It is suspected that some pseudo-hunting has continued, but IUCN and TRAFFIC have estimated over the period October 2012 – December 2015 this was the origin of only around 2.3%
of African rhino horns sourced for illegal trade

Geographic Location

Sub-Saharan Africa

Country

Namibia and South Africa

Is the site legally/formally protected?

Unknown/not recorded

Ownership

Unknown/Not Recorded

Management

Unknown/Not Recorded

Unknown/not recorded

Is the use part of a strategy to generate conservation incentives, to finance conservation, or to improve tolerance/stewardship?

Unknown/not recorded

Is there evidence that the use is affecting the conservation status of the species? HIDE

Yes – use is improving the status (e.g., population is increasing or stabilising, extraction effort OR catch per unit effort is decreasing or stable)

Is there evidence that the use is affecting natural selection?

Unknown/not recorded

Is there evidence that the use is affecting poaching of illegal wildlife trade?

Unknown/not reported

Since trophy hunting programmes were introduced for White Rhino in South Africa, numbers have increased from around
1,800 in 1968 to just over 18,400;

Is there any evidence that this use of the species is having a knock-on effect on the status of non-target species

Unknown/not recorded

Details of assessment carried out

Not only has rhino hunting clearly been sustainable, it has played an integral
part in the recovery of the White Rhino through providing incentives for private and communal landowners to maintain the species on their land; generating income for conservation and protection; and/or helping manage and promote the recovery of populations.

Has a valuation of financial flows from this use at the site/national/international level been recorded

Contribution to GDP

Unknown/not recorded

Food

Energy

Medicine/healthcare

Education

Training/Skills

Land/Resource Rights

Decision Making

Conflict- people

Conflict- wildlife

Climate Change

Details of assessment

However, increasing security costs and risks due
to escalating poaching and declining economic incentives have resulted in a worrying trend of some private rhino owners and managers divesting their rhino, that if it were to continue and escalate could threaten future expansion of range and numbers in future. Import restrictions that threaten the viability of hunting would likely further reduce incentives and exacerbate this trend.

Has the use of the species been recorded as resulting in changes to human health in this record?

Unknown/not recorded

Has the species in use been noted as being of particular disease risk to humans?

Unknown/not recorded

Has the use of the species resulted in changes to animal welfare in this record?

Unknown/not recorded

Are there particular practices which have increased the risk to human or animal health or welfare in the use of this species?

Unknown/not recorded

Does the use of this species increase susceptibility to pathogen spread?

Unknown/not recorded

Supportive policy and legislative framework

Present

High financial returns from use

Present

Biological characteristics of target species

Absent

Establishment and implementation of species and/or area management plan

Present

Is this use legal or illegal?

Some use is legal and some is illegal

Source Reference(s)

Roe, D., Cremona, P. (2016) Informing decisions on trophy hunting: A Briefing Paper regarding issues to be taken into account when considering restriction of imports of hunting trophies.

Who is involved in the use?

Unknown/Not Recorded

Is there any gender/age specificity in the various roles

Unknown/not recorded

How many of these local jobs accure to the following categories?

How many people outside the local area are employed

Is there any evidence of other economic benefits associated with this use beyond direct income and jobs

Unknown/Not recorded

Scale of Assessment

Regional/Continental/Multi-country level

Secondary Species

Diceros bicornis