Skip to content
Rhino Resource Center

The world's largest online rhinoceros library dedicated to assisting research and conservation efforts globally.

Article Article

View options

Western, D. 1989. What happened to all that rhino horn?. Traffic USA 9 (3): 6, fig. 1.

What happened to all that rhino horn?

Note
Location Africa Subject Distribution Species African Rhinos

According to calculations, between 66,360 and 76,440 black rhinos and 2,272 to 2,653 northern white rhino were killed by poachers from 1970 to 1987. These rhinos may have yielded a calculated 199,478 to 229,910 kilos of rhino horn, but trade statistics only account for about 101,000 kilos.

Note
Location Africa Subject Distribution Species African Rhinos

According to calculations, between 66,360 and 76,440 black rhinos and 2,272 to 2,653 northern white rhino were killed by poachers from 1970 to 1987. These rhinos may have yielded a calculated 199,478 to 229,910 kilos of rhino horn, but trade statistics only account for about 101,000 kilos.

Note
Location Africa Subject Distribution Species African Rhinos

According to calculations, between 66,360 and 76,440 black rhinos and 2,272 to 2,653 northern white rhino were killed by poachers from 1970 to 1987. These rhinos may have yielded a calculated 199,478 to 229,910 kilos of rhino horn, but trade statistics only account for about 101,000 kilos.

Note
Location Africa Subject Distribution Species African Rhinos

According to calculations, between 66,360 and 76,440 black rhinos and 2,272 to 2,653 northern white rhino were killed by poachers from 1970 to 1987. These rhinos may have yielded a calculated 199,478 to 229,910 kilos of rhino horn, but trade statistics only account for about 101,000 kilos.

Note
Location Africa Subject Distribution Species African Rhinos

According to calculations, between 66,360 and 76,440 black rhinos and 2,272 to 2,653 northern white rhino were killed by poachers from 1970 to 1987. These rhinos may have yielded a calculated 199,478 to 229,910 kilos of rhino horn, but trade statistics only account for about 101,000 kilos. Western believes that the 45-51 % of horn missing (by his calculations) from trade records might be entering unknown markets such as Arab states other than North Yemen, such as Oman, or other Asian countries, such as North Korea, where illicit shipments have been discovered. Or possibly the missing horn may be entering known markets in far larger quantities than previously has been assumed. For example, one of the major rhino horn importers, Taiwa, was not recognized as such until 1988.

Secret Link