 Reference Base  Entrepots for rhino horn in Khartoum and Cairo threaten G... |
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World |
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Trade |
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All Rhino Species |
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Traders in Omdurman and Khartoum in Sudan have been buying and selling rhino horns for decades and continue to do so. From the 1960s until the early 1980s most of the horns came from the thousands of rhinos killed in southern Sudan, eastern Africa, the Central African Republic (CAR) and in and around Garamba National Park in Zaire (renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC in mid-1998). In Omdurman in Sudan. some of the horns were crafted into items such as boxes, cups, walking stick handles and rings (lan Parker. pers. comm., 1997) and sold to Sudanese people. The majority of the horns, however, were exported from Khartoum and Port Sudan to Yemen for the making of traditional dagger (jambiya) handles (Martin et al., 1997).
By 1985, both black (Diceros bicornis) and white (Ceratotherium simum) rhinos had been probably eliminated from the CAR, Somalia and Uganda and numbers were low in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zaire, Chad and Sudan. As a result, significantly less rhino horn was available for the workshops in Omdurman or was being exported front Sudan to Yemen from the mid-1980s.
From 1985 to the mid-1990s, even less new horn was reaching northern Sudan due to further declines in rhino numbers. Also, in Garamba, the poaching of northern white rhinos (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) had been stopped, and in Kenya there was very little rhino poaching. A few black rhinos were illegally killed in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater and perhaps in the Selous Game Reserve. Traders probably sent the horns directly from East Africa to Yemen where they could receive a higher price than via Sudan. A very few horns could have been taken from rhinos which had died of natural causes in Kenya and Tanzania. Other horns were stolen from government stockpiles in eastern Africa or from private displays or collections. Some of these may have reached northern Sudan, and perhaps also Egypt, for sale.
Rhino horn trade survey in Khartoum and Omdurman
In November 1997 one of the authors (Esmond Martin) carried out the first survey of souvenir stores and workshops for rhino horn and ivory in the Omdurman-Khartoum area of northern Sudan (Martin, 1998) and was offered for sale five rhino horns (three of which we saw). This section of the paper reports the results of the survey and examines available information to attempt to answer questions as to where the horns came from, what were the trade routes, and which rhino species were they from.
Rhino horns for sale
The first horn seen was from a white rhino (Table 1). According to the Omdurman broker who brought it to be seen at a souvenir shop in Khartoum, it had been obtained about a year earlier from Nimule town in southern Sudan. (The nearby Nimule National Park has had no rhinos since about 1972). This horn was in very good condition as, according to the broker, it had been taken from the animal while still just alive. Another Sudanese wildlife trader also had said that a horn from a still living rhino was more valuable, claiming that when a rhino is agitated, more blood rises to its head and horn, adding some red colouring to the horn. When the rhino is dead however, the horn goes blacker, reducing its value in Sudan. The broker claimed he had never tried to sell a rhino horn before. The souvenir shop owner was very nervous that someone might see it, as the sale of rhino horn has been illegal for many years in Sudan.
The second horn was seen in a prominent souvenir shop in Omdurman. The horn was very dry and probably old and could have been either from a black or white rhino (see Table 1 ). The broker who brought the horn to the shop said it was eight years old. A European visitor then entered the shop and saw the horn on the counter and strongly criticized the shopkeeper, yet the shopkeeper was unperturbed and eventually put the horn in his safe to reduce attention to the incident.
As the shopkeeper spread the word that a western foreigner was interested in rhino horns, the next morning an army officer, acting as a broker, appeared in the shop saying he too could bring a horn, but due to security reasons only at noon. He returned on schedule with a white rhino horn (see Table 1). There were tiny holes at the top and bottom and on the base probably made by horn borers. The horn had probably been found in the bush. Unlike the other two horns, the broker for this one refused photographs to be taken of it in case the authorities found out. The shopkeeper said that most buyers of the rhino horns brought to his shop were South Koreans and Chinese. Later in the day in the same shop, another broker offered to bring the next day two horns weighing 4.5 kilos in total. Apparently, one had been obtained eight months ago and the other a year ago. The shop owner said afterwards that this broker and the army officer were offering their horns on behalf of the same owner.
Besides these three horns seen in 1997, another westerner interested in wildlife conservation and a collector of Sudanese artefacts was shown earlier in 1997 two other rhino horns for sale. One of them was weighed: it was 450 grams. Neither species could be identified.
Prices for rhino horn
The asking price for the 450-gram horn seen in early 1997 was $1,960 per kilo. The prices quoted for the three horns seen in late 1997 (Table 1 ), and the two others offered but not seen, may imply some collusion among the traders at that time as their original prices were the same. Only the first broker was willing to reduce his price slightly. This broker wrongly stated that its price in Yemen was $5,000 a kilo, when in fact it is about $ 1,200 a kilo. The two other horns that were not seen were, as expected by this stage, $3,500 a kilo. All prices were given in US dollars, never Sudanese pounds nor Sudanese dinars. There are several reasons why the price was so high. First, the prospective buyer was a westerner. Second, all negotiations were conducted by a broker visiting a shop who had to give a commission to the shopkeeper and take a percentage for himself before giving the rest to the owner. Third, the brokers were not familiar with the Yemeni and eastern Asian markets. The price for an excellent condition and very large horn in Yemen might reach $1,400 a kilo. Prices in South Korea and China may be slightly higher than in Yemen, but not over $2.500 a kilo. Thus, it seems that the Sudanese brokers had been over-pricing the horns and therefore had not sold them after several months.
African traders try to sell rhino horns quickly. There has been no tradition in tropical Africa for businessinen to stockpile rhino horns. The merchants have to pay a poacher or his agent for the
horns immediately on receipt so they need to sell them fairly quickly to re-coup their costs. The main poaching gang leader also has to pay off his men, and other relevant expenses, so he too wants his money as soon as possible. Neither is there evidence of businessmen in tropical Africa speculating on a price increase for rhino horn by holding back significant quantities from the market. This has been fortunate for traders since the mid-1980s as the import price for rhino horn in Yemen has remained the same in US dollars since 1985 and in eastern Asia the price peaked in 1990 and actually fell in the early 1990s. Thus, a Sudanese businessman speculating on the price of rhino horn in Yemen from 1985 to the present would have lost in hard currency by delaying his sale. He needed to sell the hem as quickly as possible to maximize his financial returns.
Table 1. Prices for rhino horn in Khartoum and Omdurman in November 1997.
Horn type in order seen Weight Price per kilo
White rhino 3.25 kg $3,200
Black or white rhino? 0.23 kg $3,500
White rhino 2.54 kg $3,500
Rhino horn by-products for sale
Besides the three raw horns seen, two rhino horn by-products were offered for sale in Omdurman/ Khartoum in late 1997: finger rings and powder (from ground up horn). There were four very thin rings seen, weighing less than 10 grams each. They had been crafted in Omdurman probably over 20 years ago, according to the shopkeepers. One souvenir store in Omdurman had three of the rings for $17 each, and a shop in Khartoum offered the other ring for $23.
Curiously, both shopkeepers wore rhino horn rings as well. The store in Omdurman also sold rhino horn powder for $0.37 a gram. The main customers for this are northern Sudanese who mix the powder with water, which they drink to cure snakebite poisoning.
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