Vigne, L., 1984. North Yemen now takes one half of all rhino horn. Newsletter of the African Elephant and Rhino Group 3: 18
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Trade |
| Species: |
All Rhino Species |
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The North Yemen Government outlawed all imports of rhino horn on 22 August 1982. Esmond Bradley Martin, on behalf of the African Wildlife Foundation, recently visited North Yemen and found that more than 50 % of the rhino horn available each year on the world market was being exported to North Yemen, as opposed to 40% six years ago, and despite the official ban. The horn comes mainly from Khartoum, even though Sudan is a signatory to the CITES Agreement. North Yemeni and Sudanese traders bring the 'black gold' through Sana'a Customs, often in their hand baggage. Some customs officials say they do not know about the ban. Smuggling of many goods is rife and uncontrollable in North Yemen. Esrnond Bradley Martin states that all customs officers should at least be told about the ban, and asked to enforce it.
Craftsmen carve the horn into elaborate traditional dagger handles for North Yemeni men. Dealers collect the horn shavings and export them to the Orient for medicine. Banning this secondary trade, Esmond Bradley Martin suggests, would help lower the demand and threat to the rhino. The population of North Yemen is increasing and given that 7.75% of males from the age of 12 require and can afford new rhino-horn dagger handles, two tonnes of horn a year are needed to meet the demand, excluding that from the 24,000 tourists to North Yemen who may be offered daggers as souvenirs. The media should impress upon the newly rich Yemenis and on the tourist trade the endangered state of the rhino. The most effective measure which should be taken against the trade, however, would be stricter control on exports from source countries, especially via the Khartoum connection, Esmond Bradley Martin states.
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North Yemen now takes one half of all rhino horn
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