14 DAY TRIAL // While some conservationists and wildlife researchers are going on and on about how stricter measures are needed in order to curb the illegal trade in various animal body parts, a team of specialists working with the University of Queensland are busy arguing that such activities should in fact be made legal.
More precisely, these specialists are quite convinced that safeguarding the world's remaining rhino population can only be achieved if trading activities involving these animals’ horns are approved of by ongoing legislations.
Dr. Duan Biggs and his colleagues base their claim that a legal rhino horn trade is mandatory on the findings of several reports which have shown that banning such activities only ups prices and increases demand.
According to Inhabitat, one kilogram of rhino horn presently sells for about $65,000 (€49,537.4), and this whopping price can only be linked to the fact that buying and selling such animal body parts is currently illegal.
The same source informs us that, for the time being at least, rhino horns are mainly purchased by people living in China, who work on the assumption that they can use them as an aphrodisiac.
Seeing how changing these people's mentality is a fairly difficult thing to do, Dr. Duan Biggs and his colleagues are convinced that a safer alternative would be to humanely harvest horn material from these animals.
Thus, they explain that the average rhino can grow about 0.9 kilograms (roughly 2 pounds) of horn on a yearly basis, and that shaving off this excess material in order to legally sell it would help curb poaching activities which more often than not result in the animals' being killed.
As was to be expected, several other conservationists disagree with the idea that legalizing the trade in rhino horns might help protect these animals.
Quite the contrary: it is their belief that, once one such market takes off, poaching activities will only experience an uncalled for boost.