This as the BMA, SARS, and the DPCI, working with other stakeholders, have confirmed a breakthrough in the fight against wildlife trafficking, following a coordinated transnational operation that resulted in the seizure of a significant consignment of rhino horns and lion/tiger parts destined for the South East Asian illegal market.

The operation conducted on Monday, was led by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) Wildlife Trafficking Section, with support from the BMA, SARS Customs, Tracker Connect, the Gauteng South African Police Service (SAPS) Tactical Response Team and the Gauteng SAPS Airwing, among others.

“The intelligence-driven operation was launched after a suspicious consignment originally dispatched to Singapore, was identified and returned to its sender in South Africa. Investigative teams traced the shipment to a storage facility in Kempton Park [in Gauteng]. Upon execution of the search, four boxes were identified and thoroughly examined.

“Inside the boxes, officials uncovered 17 rhino horns weighing 55.4 kilograms, along with 26.2 kilograms of lion and tiger bones, skulls and claws,” said the BMA in a statement on Thursday.

Two Nigerian nationals, aged 34 and 35, were identified as the receivers of the consignment and were taken into custody.

The two appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 03 December 2025, on charges relating to the contravention of Section 57(1) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (Act 10 of 2004), which prohibits restricted activities involving listed threatened or protected species.

The value of the items has not yet disclosed due to ongoing forensic and valuation processes.

The multi-agency investigation remains active, and additional arrests have not been ruled out as authorities pursue all leads and deepen cooperation with both domestic and international partners.

The Commissioner of the BMA, Dr Michael Masiapato, commended all agencies involved for their seamless coordination and reaffirmed the unwavering commitment to combating wildlife trafficking, which threatens South Africa’s natural heritage and fuels organised criminal networks.

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This is after media reports incorrectly suggested that South Africa plans to diverge from the international consensus on the trade of ivory and rhino horns.

This comes ahead of the upcoming 20th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP20), which will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 24 November – 5 December 2025.

“Our policy is guided by science, ethics, and global cooperation, not by commercial interest,”  statement from the DFFE said.

Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Dr Dion George, said: “South Africa will not support any move to reopen the ivory or rhino horn trade. Our duty is to protect our wildlife, not to profit from their destruction.”

South Africa’s approach to elephant and rhino conservation is grounded in sustainability, protection of biodiversity, and support for communities who live alongside wildlife.

The department said it will continue to work closely with regional and international partners to combat poaching, dismantle trafficking networks, and strengthen wildlife law enforcement.

“South Africa has a proud record of responsible conservation management under CITES. Our engagement in CITES processes aims to protect species, maintain ecological integrity, and ensure that conservation delivers long-term social and economic benefits.”

The department stressed that any suggestion that they seek to weaken international agreements or undermine collective conservation efforts is without basis.

“The DFFE’s priority is clear and this is to secure a future where elephants, rhinos and people can thrive together.”

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What is the rhino horn trade?

Rhino horn is not particularly special in terms of its biochemistry. Its composition is close to that of various other mammal horns, hooves and hair. Despite this, and the ban on international sales, rhino horn continues to be illegally trafficked from Africa to Asia – principally China and Vietnam – where there is a demand for the horn. Rhino horn is used as a status symbol (ownership is associated with affluence), linked with use in traditional Chinese medicine and used as an aphrodisiac.

Rhino are poached (killed) for their horn, which is then illegally traded. With the three Asiatic rhino species on the precipice of extinction, the main sources of rhino horn today are the African rhino: the black rhino and the white rhino. Today, South Africa has fewer than 23,000 rhino left of a historical population of 500,000. In 2023 alone, 449 rhino were lost to poaching.

Rhino can be protected against poaching if they are guarded or monitored, moved to areas where the poaching risk is lower, or through veterinary surgeons removing their horns under anaesthesia. A rhino with horn removed is in theory less likely to be poached as, with a much shorter horn, the financial reward to the poacher is greatly diminished.

However, data on the effectiveness of de-horning as a conservation tool is limited and results are mixed. The rhino horn also grows back, meaning that the rhino needs to be dehorned regularly to reduce the poaching risk. These harvested horns are often stored instead of being destroyed.

What is the rhino horn stockpile?

Rhino horn obtained by regular harvesting, horn from natural rhino deaths, and horn confiscated by law enforcement is stored in stockpiles by rhino owners, investors and government. In 2020, when the last official stockpile figures were released, the South African government stockpile stood at 27,641kg, with 47,544kg in private hands. These stockpiles are supposed to be stored securely to prevent the horn from being stolen and sold on the illegal market.

Rhino horn can be traded legally within South Africa, under permit, but there is no local demand. Previous hopes of a rhino-horn tourism industry, where visitors would travel to legally consume rhino horn in South Africa, have not transpired.

Why stockpile rhino horn when there is no legal international market, and therefore no economic value to it? The chief motive for stockpiling rhino horn seems to be the hope that the international market will reopen in future. Private landowners in South Africa may have invested in rhino, and stockpiled harvested horn, speculating that a future international legal market will provide financial rewards.

The South African government itself lobbied for a lifting of the international ban on trade in rhino horn at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in 2016. However, the conference upheld the ban on trade. If the ban was lifted, clearly a lot of money could be made from selling the vast amount of stockpiled horn. On the black market, rhino horn is bought and sold for between US$10,694/kg and US$22,257/kg in Vietnam.

Why is the rhino horn stockpile a problem?

In spite of the ban on international trade, and the legal requirement for secure storage, rhino horn has been diverted from South African stockpiles into the illegal global wildlife trade.

A South African government stockpile was the target of theft in 2023, losing 51 horns to thieves who broke into the storage area. The South African government’s statistics also indicate a decrease in rhino stockpiles of over 4,000 horns between 2019 and 2020.

Seizures of illegal rhino horn shipments have been found to contain rhino horn from South African stockpiles – both private and government. In South Africa, each rhino horn removed from rhino should be microchipped; this unique ID enables rhino horn to be traced to its source.

The EMS report argues that the stockpiles contribute to creating a demand for more accessible rhino horn, in larger amounts. This can lead to poaching and costly knock-on effects such as a greater investment in rhino protection, and danger to those guarding the rhino. Destroying rhino horn stockpiles would signal a commitment to no-trade and symbolise the worthlessness of rhino horn as a commodity.
What is the solution to the rhino horn stockpile problem?

The pro-trade side want a future with a legal international trade in rhino horn, and argue that this is the route to saving the rhino. The no-trade side believe a legal trade in rhino horn would make a future for free-living wild rhino even more challenging than it is now. Unfortunately, these opposing visions of a future for rhino are not compatible. The rhino are caught in a policy no-man’s-land.

I believe that the key to saving the rhino is demand reduction. Promoting behaviour change among consumers, for example via publicity and education campaigns, by turning rhino horn into a badge of shame rather than a medallion of status would undermine the market demand.

Diminishing demand for rhino horn would ultimately remove the incentive for poaching rhino. It would also remove any incentive to private land owners to farm rhino for their horn. I am against “saving” the rhino by domesticating them: I want to see wild animals living a natural life in their natural environment – contributing to the ecosystem. Symbolic funeral pyres of burning rhino horn may be the best way forward for rhino conservation.

Written by Jason Gilchrist, Lecturer in the School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University.

Republished with permission from The Conversation. The original article can be found here.

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