The brazen slaying and dehorning of an endangered white rhino in a wildlife preserve near Paris last month spurred widespread outrage. Mainstream media coverage blamed its usual suspects: Asian men who supposedly buy rhino horn as a crude form of Viagra. The reality behind the demand is far more complex. Historically rhino populations were decimated by uncontrolled trophy hunting during the European colonial era. These days the main threat to the surviving rhinos comes from the illegal rhino horn trade between Africa and Asia.
Certain buyers in Vietnam and China—the largest and second-largest black market destinations respectively—covet rhino horn products for different reasons. Some purchase horn chunks or powder for traditional medicinal purposes, to ingest or to give others as an impressive gift. Wealthy buyers bid for antique rhino horn carvings such as cups or figurines to display or as investments.
A modern market for rhino horn necklaces, bracelets and beads has also sprung up. Most of the desire for rhino horn seems unrelated to any wish for a raging hard-on, experts say. There is one group of buyers in Vietnam that may partially reflect the stereotype of horny Asians seeking a rhino horn fix. That group also included some men who also apparently believed rhino horn could cure impotence and enhance sexual performance. This example stands out because it is rare, however. Overall, conservationists say there is no sweeping aphrodisiac craze driving lust for rhino horn.
Wildlife Watch is an investigative reporting project between National Geographic Society and National Geographic Partners focusing on wildlife crime and exploitation. Send tips, feedback, and story ideas to ngwildlife natgeo. Share Tweet Email.
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Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. However, research has shown that people in Viet Nam are starting to believe this rumour as they are consuming it for new reasons. Even without aphrodisiacal properties, however, rhino horn is one of the mainstays of Traditional Chinese Medicines, and its collection has been responsible for the death of tens of thousands of rhinos around the world.
Make no mistake: those people using rhino horn to cure medical ailments really believe it works. There has been a recent surge in demand for rhino horn in Viet Nam. A survey, carried out by TRAFFIC in , identified that the motivation for consumers buying rhino horn is the emotional benefit rather than medicinal, as it reaffirms their social status among their peers. Image and status are important to these consumers, as they tend to be highly educated and successful people who have a powerful social network and no affinity to wildlife.
Rhino horns are sometimes bought for the sole purpose of being gifted to others; to family members, business colleagues or people in positions of authority. You can read their report here. In South Africa it is possible to trade rhino horn domestically within the country , after a legal battle to overturn the ban took place in There are wider calls from within the country to legalise the international trade in rhino horn.
And today there are only about 29, left in the world. Considerable efforts have been devoted to reducing the demand for rhino horn in Vietnam. In , the Government of Vietnam increased sanctions on the illegal trade and use of rhino horns. We conducted a study to shed light on why people use rhino horn. To do this we interviewed consumers who admitted to using rhino horn in Vietnam.
We found that people used rhino horn for a number of purposes, principally as a medicine and as a status symbol. The most prevalent use was for treating hangovers.
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