BANGKOK: “It’s the biggest confiscation of rhino horns in 5 to 10 years”, said Somkiat Soontornpitakkool, director of Thailand’s Wild Fauna and Flora Protection division. Customs officials said the horns are unusually large and pristine.
Two Thai women who had traveled from Vietnam and Cambodia arrived to collect them, before fleeing when their luggage was checked.
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Warrants have been issued for the arrest of two Thai women for suspected involvement in the smuggling of rhino horns from Ethiopia with a market value of over 170 million baht.
The horns, blood, skin and urine from Rhinoceros are highly valued both in China for traditional medicine and in Vietnam where they are considered luxury items.
A 30-day period during which the public was invited to express opinions about the draft legislation on rhino horn trade ended Friday, the Department of Environmental Affairs said. They ran away after an official stopped them. It’s possible to cut off a rhinoceros’ horn without killing it, but the dehorning process poses risks to their health.
Wild rhino populations have dwindled to just 29,000 from half a million at the beginning of the 20th century, according to the International Rhino Foundation.
Last month poachers stormed an animal orphanage in South Africa and killed two rhinos for their horns after taking staff hostage.
South Africa’s government has lost court battles to preserve the 2009 ban, which was challenged by rhino breeders, and has leaned toward trade, backing a failed proposal by neighbouring Swaziland at a United Nations wildlife conference in Johannesburg past year to legalize the worldwide sale of rhino horn.
