Saying no to poaching

Ma Weidu (right) visits South Africa as part of a campaign against poaching. PHOTO Provided By Investec Rhino Lifeline

Chinese antique collector puts weight behind campaign against trade in rhino horn. Liu Wei and Luan Xiang report.

Despite the brutality of poaching, many antique collectors still value rhino horn over live animals.

Such tainted products should be banned from sale in any form, says leading Chinese antique dealer Ma Weidu.

In September, Ma endorsed a new campaign against the rhino horn trade launched jointly by nonprofit organizations WildAid, the African Wildlife Foundation and National Geographic's Traveler magazine in China.

"Despite the fact that ivory has been appreciated by the Chinese since the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, and rhino horn items since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), prices were never ramped up in the domestic market," Ma says.

Unfortunately, major auction houses outside China have been selling rhino horn artifacts at extremely high prices, encouraging poaching and smuggling and pushing the rhinoceros closer to extinction.

"Ivory and rhino horn products from any period should be banned from public trade and auction," Ma says.

A scholar and founder of Guanfu Museum, one of the country's first private museums of antiques, Ma has pledged to stop buying any item made of ivory or rhino horn and to advocate for people to stop using, trading or buying wildlife products.

"It is more important to save endangered species while we can than to collect relics after the animals have disappeared completely," Ma says.

Rhinos are endangered primarily due to poaching for their horns, which are used in medicine and for carving. Rhino populations have plummeted 95 percent in the last 40 years.

However, scientists have proved that rhino horn has no medicinal value, and advances in biotechnology make it possible to create substitutes for any animal product, so there simply is no excuse for failing to protect wildlife, especially species in grave danger like the rhino, he says.

In September, he visited South Africa to see firsthand wild rhinos in their natural habitat and those injured or orphaned by poachers, and to participate in an anti-poaching demonstration.

"I never imagined I would touch a rhino. It's an incredibly moving experience to see such a powerful animal so completely vulnerable."

South Africa has seen a spike in rhino poaching since 2008. Last year more than 1,000 were killed illegally.

"It is going to take a long time to change centuries of deeply held beliefs and entrenched Chinese culture," says Ma.

"But we are committed to this cause and the important role of telling people in China that rhino horn has no magical qualities and to stop buying it."

The campaign video has been available on TV, online, at airports and other media in China and via Xinhua's CNC channel abroad since early October.

China's top-down efforts to crack down on rhino horn poaching and smuggling are effective in curbing the illegal trade, says Steve Blake, chief representative of WildAid in Beijing. WildAid estimates only 25,000 rhinos survive and they are being killed faster than they can reproduce.

It is estimated that three rhinos are killed every day, and the western black rhino is already extinct.

Since 2012, China has made building ecological civilization a development priority, with the protection of its fauna and flora, including wildlife, a crucial element, says Blake.

From 2013 to 2016, China organized and led worldwide cooperation against rhinoceros horn smuggling alongside international law enforcement agencies, conservation groups and authorities from other countries and regions.

The anti-smuggling bureau of China's General Administration of Customs last year filed 1,223 criminal cases involving wildlife trafficking, arrested 2,196 suspects, and broke up more than 200 criminal gangs in China and abroad, according to the Animal Welfare Institute.

The administration organized and participated in numerous national and international operations to combat wildlife crimes.

With more stringent legislation and law enforcement, black market prices for rhino horn are about a third of what they once were, says Peter Knights, founder and CEO of WildAid.

All sales of rhino horn have been illegal in China since 1993, and it has been removed from the traditional Chinese medicine handbook. Since 2011, all rhino horn items have been banned from auction house sales as well.

"China - the authorities and the public - has been playing an important part in eradicating the brutal yet complex rhinoceros horn trade," says Blake.

African Wildlife Foundation trustee Gordon Cheng wants more global efforts to stop the rhino horn trade.

"We hope our program can help to convey the right messages for existing collectors and users, and most importantly for younger generations in Asia and around the world," Cheng says.

Tourism is hugely important for protecting rhinos, says Yu Hui, of Traveler magazine. "They are one of the flagship wildlife species in Africa, and tourism to view them generates revenue for local communities and conservation efforts."

"Encouraging our tourists to visit the natural habitat, to be an eyewitness to the animals in their own homes and to influence people around us to care for these endangered species, will provide a greater experience and help the local economy," says Yu.

In September, Traveler magazine in Beijing launched its Travel for Earth program, focusing on ecotourism and highlighting rhino tourism. Jiang Yiyan, a young Chinese actress, starred in a photographic exhibition alongside the last living male northern white rhino. The species with just three surviving animals will inevitably die out.

"I felt so sad when I embraced him and felt his warmth. He was gentle and friendly, huge and yet so vulnerable," Jiang said then.

She urged the Chinese public to join the battle against the rhino horn trade by supporting ecotourism in African reserves. "I hope our children will have the chance to see a living rhino."