Guwahati: A report by the Wildlife Justice Commission titled ‘Rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crime (2012-2021) Global Threat Assessment’ says though Asian rhino horns (greater one-horned, Javan or Sumatran rhino species) are less frequently seized in illegal trade compared to African rhino horns, there have been several public reports of Indian rhino horns seized at border points in Myanmar and India which is a matter of concern.
Wildlife Justice Commission is an organisation based in the Hague to fight transnational organised wildlife crime.
At the global level, the report says rhino horn trafficking remains a severe problem that needs to be addressed with a new sense of urgency as a transnational organised crime.
It says over the past ten years, illegal killing of rhinos and trafficking of their horns has grown into a global criminal enterprise, comprising multiple criminal components
dominated by greed and pursuit of substantial profits.
This threat assessment presents a comprehensive analysis of rhino horn trafficking from January 2012 to December 2021.
During 2012-2021, more than 7.5 tonnes of rhino horns were seized globally from illegal trade in 674 incidents.
Asian rhino horns (from greater one-horned, Javan or Sumatran rhino species) are less frequently seized in illegal trade compared to African rhino horns, accounting for 97 of the 674 seizure incidents (14.4 per cent) but only 0.8 per cent of the total weight of contraband seized during the 2012-2021 period.
The report says another smuggling route from India into Myanmar appears to be increasing in relevance as there have been several public reports of Indian rhino horns seized at border points in Myanmar and India.
“Rhino horns and products have been observed for sale in the Golden Triangle region of eastern Myanmar at notorious wildlife markets in Mong La (bordering China) and Tachileik (bordering Thailand).
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in India is reportedly investigating international organised smuggling of rhino horn taking place in Manipur (bordering Myanmar), in a network that extends from India to Myanmar and onwards into Southeast Asia and China,” the report says.
It says Myanmar’s geographic position — nestled between India and China, and its access into Southeast Asia via borders with Thailand and Lao PDR, make it a convenient transit point along the smuggling route.
“Along with other factors that provide ideal conditions for criminal activity to flourish, including limited government control in the country’s autonomous border territories, political instability, armed conflict, and sanctions since the 2021 military coup, there is concern that Myanmar could grow as a potential threat to Asian rhinos,” the report further said.
Analysis of the seizure data showed a spike in the number of incidents and weight of Asian rhino horns confiscated from illegal trade during the 2014-2015 period, which corresponds with the sharp increase in the overall number and weight of all rhino horn seizures seen at this time.
Since this period, there has been a declining trend in Asian rhino horn seizures, with the weight of horns seized during 2020-2021 almost returning to the levels recorded ten years ago. Asian rhino poaching rates have also shown a consistent declining trend over the decade.
The low seizure weights indicate that Asian rhino horns are seized in very small quantities, often as single horns, as opposed to African rhino horns which are seized in increasingly larger shipments.
“This could reflect the fact that their population numbers are lower than African rhinos, as well as the different modus operandi employed for trafficking this horn type, which can be moved over land from the primary source locations in India and Nepal (where the largest populations of Asian rhinos exist), to the destination markets in East Asia,” the report says.
Very few international smuggling routes were described in the seizures, as the majority took place in the country where the rhino was poached — India or Nepal, although the data also included six seizures of Sumatran rhino horns that
took place in Indonesia in 2016 and 2018.
“Only eight Asian rhino horn seizures involved cross-border smuggling, but from this scarce data it is possible to infer that the majority of Asian rhino horns likely move from India to Nepal, and perhaps also to Bhutan, for over land smuggling into China,” the report said.
Key findings on criminal dynamics
Rhino horn seizures increased significantly in number and weight, despite a reduction in poaching.
Six countries and territories have dominated rhino horn trafficking routes — South Africa, Vietnam, Mozambique, China, Malaysia, and Hong Kong SAR.
South Africa and Vietnam continue to be the two countries most consistently implicated in rhino horn trafficking.
Significant amounts of harvested horns from legal stockpiles are diverted into illegal trade.
Malaysia is playing an increasingly important role as a transit point for shipments from Africa to Asia.
Significant amounts of harvested horns from legal stockpiles are diverted into illegal trade criminal groups are routinely exploiting weaknesses in stockpile systems to access harvested rhino horns.
One-third of rhino horns are smuggled unconcealed, suggesting a potential reliance on corruption to move shipments along the supply chain.
Rhino horns are most frequently smuggled on commercial airlines, but the trend is shifting from small shipments in passenger luggage to larger shipments by air cargo.
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