Target: Grethel Aguilar, Director General of International Union for Conservation of Nature
Goal: Maintain ban on rhino horn trade as codified in Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Research suggests that plants and animals are actually evolving to protect themselves from humans. Darker or paler colors and shortened lengths of bodies and body parts are two of the results. As one prominent example, an increasing number of iconic elephants have been born either with drastically smaller or entirely absent tusks. Likely not coincidentally, elephants are often slaughtered by poachers for these structures. The rhinoceros faces a similar threat with its horns. Unfortunately, evolutionary adaptation has not yet provided rhinos a similar lifeline. A controversial proposal could deprive these unique animals of one of their signature features nonetheless.
The proposal would involve legalizing the rhino horn trade, with the supposed purpose of taking away the allure of illegal poaching. Under this theory, the rhino would undergo the removal of the horn and eventually grow a new one. While at first the proposal might seem attractive, conservationists have expressed serious concerns. For one, dehorning is a complicated process that would need to be tailored to individual rhinos. Even in the most ideal circumstances, the horn would not likely regrow for at least three years. Moreover, even the temporary loss of a horn could greatly impact a rhino’s behavior, as the animal relies on the horn for various purposes ranging from defense to establishing a social order with other rhinos. And perhaps most consequentially, already-enacted dehorning initiatives have reportedly done little to lessen the impact of poaching. In some cases, populations have decreased even more drastically.
Sign the petition below to urge international leaders to rethink any plans to promote dehorning and to legitimize the rhino horn trade.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Director General Aguilar,
The rhinoceros population has plummeted by as much as 70 percent in some habitats. Poaching has played a major role in this drastic drop. Dehorning may seem like an ideal deterrence measure, but the results of this practice have not realized the promises made. Rhinos are still dying at a concerning rate, and the animals who have undergone dehorning have faced long-term and disruptive behavioral changes. Legalizing the trade of rhino horns would compound, not alleviate, these consequences.
The 27,000 remaining rhinos in the world cannot afford such a stealth attack against their longevity. Please do not entertain the legalization of horn trading nor the normalization of a controversial and harmful practice.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Ikiwaner
36 Signatures