7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 1/8
Cse SesP E R C
A Markt Succss Stor
By Michael 't Sas-Rolfes
Edited by Laura Huggins
Saving African
Rhinos:
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 2/8
PERC CaSE StudiES SERiES2
in 1900, he sohern whe rhnoceros ws he os
ennere o he worl's e rhnoceros speces.
Less hn 20 rhnos rene n snle resere
n Soh arc. B 2010, whe rhno nbers h
clbe o ore hn 20,000, kn he os
coon rhno speces on he plne.
B he erl weneh cenr,
onl sll poplon sre
n wh s now he Hlhlwe-
uoloz Prk n Soh arc.
inll rol hnn re orhe Zl Kno, he prk ws
ocll proece n 1895. is
poplon o whe rhnos slowl
recoere n b he -wen-
eh cenr h reche he prk’s
ll ecolocl crrn cpc.
a h e, he Nl PrksBor ece o ke bol con
o expn he whe rhno popl-
on b cprn n relocn
nls o new res. Breen
rops o whe rhnos were oe
o oher se-owne prks, sch
s Krer Nonl Prk, n lso
o pre e rnches n zoos.
ths pror, known s Operon
Rhno, sccessll re-esblshe
n new breen rops hroh-
o sohern arc.
B 1960, he whe rhno popl-
on h rown o 840. the nex
ece sw ncrese neres n
pre e rnchn, n n 1968
he rs lel whe rhno roph
hn ook plce. the Nl Prks
Bor conne o sppl le
whe rhnos o pre lnowners
or nonl ee on rs-coe,rs-sere bss. B he -
1980s, bece cler h here
ws proble wh hs sse. a
lon wn ls o pre owners
ws eer o cqre rhnos or
roph hnn, b he showe
lle neres n breen he. thsle conseronss o qeson
wheher he pre secor col
cll be enrse wh rhno
conseron. On closer exn-
on, howeer, ppere he
proble ws er o xn he
ncene srcre.
Whle sohern whe rhno
nbers rose, poplons o he
oher rhno speces eclne. ths
ncle he arcn blck rhno
n hree asn speces. Wh he whe rhno hre wheres
he ohers no? in shor, Soh
arc n ew oher arcn
conres ope polces h
cree he rh ncenes or
rhno conseron.
BACKGROUND
the whe rhno, once plenl n
sohern arc, ws ll b hne
o exncon n he nneeenh
cenr. as dch n Enlsh
selers colonze he reon, he
klle rhnos or e n spor.
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 3/8
SaviNg aRiCaN RHiNOS: a maRKEt SuCCESS StORy 3
PRIVATIZING RHINOS
Beore 1991, ll wlle n Soh
arc ws ree b lw s res nulliu s or n-owne proper. to
rep he benes o ownershp ro
wl nl, h o be klle,
cpre, or oesce. ths
cree n ncene o hres, no
proec, lble wl speces—
enn h een erncher p or rhno, he rncher
col no cl copenson he
rhno le hs proper or ws klle
b pocher.
the Nl Prks Bor hoh
h pron rhnos or low
ee—n eece sbs— wol
encore pre owners o be
oo sewrs o rhnos. Howeer,
closer look rhno prces—boh or bn n or hnn—
sess h hs ew ws sk-
en. in 1982, he Nl Prks Bor
ls prce or le whe rhno ws
1,000 Soh arcn rns (R). th
se er, he ere roph prce
ws R6,000. an pre lnownerrecen le rhno h er
sron ncene o sell s roph
s qckl s possble o pocke
600 percen pro. the lern-
e ws llown o ro on hs
proper where here ws rsk o
losn o pocher or nehbor.
THINKING C REATIVELY
Rhino poaching is driven
y economic orces.
i we rell wn o se he
rhno, we s nersn
how hose orces work n
look exples o sccess
sores o see wh we cn
lern ro he.
South Africa and a fw othr African countris adoptd policis that cratd th right incntivs for rhino consrvation.
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 4/8
PERC CaSE StudiES SERiES4
or he nex hree ers, s he
wn ls or whe rhnos rew,
he Nl Prks Bor rple s lsprces, b en conne o
osrp he re o sppl. in 1985,
pre rncher oere ew rhnos
p or con, propn he Nl
Prks Bor o o he se. in
1986, he bor cone sx rhnos,
whch sol or n ere prce ojs boe R10,000—ore hn
oble he ls prce. Encore b
hs sccess, he bor ncresnl
ebrce he con sse oer
he nex hree ers, rn whch
e he rke prce sore o n
ere o los R49,000 b 1989.
drn hs se pero, he
ere prce or rhno roph
lso rose, b peke n 1989 js ner R92,000 beore pll-
n bck o R80,000 n 1990.
re 1 llsres he relonshp
beween ls prces, con prces,
n roph prces beween 1982
n 1990. ro 1990 onwr,
ls prces were bnone nrhnos were osl cone, s
he Nl Prks Bor relze he
benes o rke prcn. B hs
e he p beween he prce
o le rhno n roph h
nrrowe sch h he roph
prce ws onl bo 60 percen
hher hn he le prce— ore
relsc rk-p.
also rn hs pero, heSoh arcn Lw Cosson
resse he sse o ownershp
o lble e nls. Reco-
nzn he probles ssoce
wh he res nullius x, he
cosson re new pece
o leslon: he the o geac o 1991. ths polc llowe
or pre ownershp o n wl
nl h col be ene
ccorn o cern crer sch s
brn or er .
the cobne eec o rke
prcn hroh cons n he
FIGURe 1: RHINO PRICeS
1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
R h i n o
P r i c e
( t h o u s a n
d
r a n d s )
List price Auction price Trophy price Source: Natal Parks Board.
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
*Auction price data unavailable. List price data unavailable.
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 5/8
SaviNg aRiCaN RHiNOS: a maRKEt SuCCESS StORy 5
creon o sroner proper
rhs oer rhnos chne he
ncenes o pre rnchers. inow e sense o bree rhnos
rher hn shoo he s soon s
he were recee. ineresnl,
he pre rke lso benee
se ences sch s he Nl
Prks Bor, whch ne ro
he ncrese ncoe ro rhnosles. ro ere ew ho-
sn rns n he erl 1980s
(he rn/uS ollr re ws one
o one hs e), he nnl
rke le o le rhno sles
rew o R64.5 llon (uS$7.8
llon) b 2008.
BLACK AND WHITe
No onl he whe rhno rke
row n le, b whe rhno popl-ons lso forshe. re 2 shows
rens n whe rhno nbers ro
1960 nl 2007. Conrs hose
nbers wh he blck rhno, whch
osl le n arcn conres wh
wek or bsen wlle rke ns-
ons sch s Ken, tnzn, nZb. in 1960, bo 100,000 blck
rhnos roe cross arc, b b
he erl 1990s pochers h rece
her nbers o less hn 2,500.
Rhno pochn s ren b he
en or rhno horn o boh
speces, whch s se or orn-
FIGURe 2: RHINO POPULATIONS
RHINO HORN USES
There are two majormarkets or rhino horn.
throho as, rhno horn
hs been se or hosns o
ers or boh ornenl n
ecnl prposes. alens
h rhno bo prs spposel
cre ncle skn sese,
bone sorers, n eer. the
secon rke or rhno horn s
he er re n he mle
Esern non o yeen where
cre rhno horns re se s
hnles or cereonl ers
clle jbs.
1960 1970 1980 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007
R h i n o
P o p u l a t i o n
( t h o u
s a n d s )
White Rhino Black Rhino Source: IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 6/8
PERC CaSE StudiES SERiES6
enl n ecnl prposes n
as. Snce he -1970s, ner-
nonl re n rhno horn hsbeen sbjec o bn ner CitES,
he une Nons Conenon on
inernonl tre n Ennere
Speces. aer he CitES bn ce
no eec, prces or rhno horn
sore on blck rkes n he
conne rsn eer snce.B he -1990s, rhno poch-
n h eclne o ssnble
leels n n conseronss
sse h he CitES bn h
sole he proble. Rhno poch-
n, howeer, hs re-eere s
seros proble snce 2008.
a ore plsble reson or he
eporr respe n pochn pres-
sre s h ll he “es pckns”were one. unproece wl rhno
poplons re rre o non-exsen
n oern arc. the onl sr-
n arcn rhnos ren eher
n conres wh sron wlle
rke nsons (sch s Soh
arc n Nb) or n nenselproece zones.
Soh arc n Nb he
replce he sccessl pproch
o whe rhno conseron wh
blck rhnos, crrenl proecn 75
percen o he worl’s blck rhno
poplon n 96 percen o he
AbOUT CITES
CITES was ormed in the
mid-1970s as an international
treaty to protect wild species
threatened y trade. all
eber conres (ore hn 175)
ree o rele he re n speces
cross her borers n one o wo
ws. Speces re eher lse on
appenx 1, ner whch no re s
llowe, or appenx 2, ner whch
re s llowe ner per
sse onl. abo 800 speces re
lse on appenx 1 n 32,500 on
appenx 2. CitES eplos onl
snle ocer o oersee lobl
enorceen o he re.
Unprotctd wild rhino populations ar rar to non-xistnt in modrn Africa. Th onl surviving African rhinosrmain in countris with strong wildlif markt institutions.
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 7/8
SaviNg aRiCaN RHiNOS: a maRKEt SuCCESS StORy 7
whe rhno poplon. aer rece-
n CitES pprol n 2004, boh
conres he een nroce
le blck rhno roph hnn.
CROSSROADS
despe cler eence h sron
proper rhs n rke ncen-
es conse he os sensble
oel or rhno conseron n
arc, n nernonl conser-
onss n polckers o no
reconze hs. throh nsons
sch s CitES, he conne o
prse con-n-conrol
pproch h epens on rel-
ons or bns o resrc wlle se.
ths pproch now hreens o
nerne he sccess chee
hs r, s he exrornrl hh
blck rke prce or rhno horn
hs elle new pochn re.
Beore he recen psre n
pochn, asn nonls epe
o n lee ccess o rhno
horn b posn s roph hners.
in response, Soh arc’s oern-
en hene conrols oer he
hnn nsr s well s he sle
n se o le rhnos n rhno
horn. unornel, hese resrc-
ons onl seee o precpe
he crren pochn crss. the
South Africa currntl protcts 75% of th world’s black rhino population and 96% of th whit rhino population.
7/30/2019 Saving African Rhinos: A Market Success Story
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/saving-african-rhinos-a-market-success-story 8/8
SaviNg aRiCaN RHiNOS: a maRKEt SuCCESS StORy8
PERC 2048 ANALySIS DRIVe, SUITe A – BOZeMAN, MT 59718 – WWW.PeRC.ORG
en or rhno horn s sncn
n perssen enoh o be er
rewrn o crnls who re wll-
n o sppl .
Soh arc’s e rnchers re
lso wlln o sppl he rke,
n soe he lre experen-
e wh ws o ncrese breen
n horn rowh res n ree-
rne rn enronen. Rhno
horn s e o kern (slr o
nernls n hr) n cn be
perocll n hnel hrese
ro le rhnos nl cos (s
lle s $20 ollrs o see nnl n c o s horns). i he
CitES bn ws le, lel coer-
cl rhno horn procon ro
rnchers col ocopee os
llel hresn b pochers.
unornel, hs prc
rke solon oes no ppel o
ke nernonl conseronss,
who nss h beer enorceen
n ore polcl wll re neee o
sole he pochn crss. trcll,
hs no be enoh. there re
n oher exples o le bns,
sch s lcohol prohbon n
he wr on rs, chrcerze b
nscen ncenes o pleen
he sccessll. the rke-
ncene sccess sor o arcn
rhno conseron e be
nerne b lre o reconze
n lern ro .
For mor information visit:
rhno-econocs.co
MICHAeL 'T SAS-ROLFeS s n
enronenl econos bse n
Soh arc n 2011 PERC Lone
monn ellow.
THREE RHINO MYTHS
Rhino horn is used as an
aphrodisiac in Asia.
Rhno horn s se s n
nreen n ronl Chnese
ecne o re seros
llnesses noln hh eers
n oxc. in ven, s
soh s cncer ree.
Rhino poaching is driven y
greed and evil people.
Rhno pochn s ren b he
hh prce or rhno horn, whch
s cse b n rcl spplresrcon ro he bn n he
ce o perssen en,
cren pererse ncenes.
The medicinal demand or
rhino horn is unscientifc and
thereore not legitimate.
use o rhno horns n Chneseecne hs clrl roos
on bck hosns o ers
n n o s herens re
nlkel o p ch enon o
scenc rens.