A Chinese national identified as Xiaja Chen has been sentenced by a South African court to eight years in prison for illegal possession of rhino horns, elephant tusks, and leopard skins.
According to Beeld, Chen said he obtained the rhino horns so he could smuggle them to China for his cancer-stricken uncle. (Rhino horn traders market rhino horn as a “cancer treatment” to desperate buyers.)
Chen was arrested in May, along with four accomplices comprised of two Chinese nationals, a Malawian and a South African.
Besides two rhino horns and two elephant tusks, the gang had three leopard skins in their possession. Chen received three years each for rhino horn and ivory, and two years for the skins.
The case against the other suspects is still in progress.
However, it’s not just “outsiders” who are responsible for the demise of South Africa’s wildlife. Game farmers and reserve owners are suspected of killing their own rhinos under the guise of “poaching incidents” and then selling the horns.
Meanwhile, in Kenya, ivory seizures have risen 800 percent since 2007 and Chinese nationals are involved in 90 percent of ivory seizures at the country’s airports.
Image © iStockphoto.com
Rhishja Cota
I am the founder of Annamiticus and I have been researching and writing about wildlife trafficking issues since 2009. I also founded World Pangolin Day in 2012. I am the author of USAID Wildlife Asia's Pangolin Species Identification Guide: A Rapid Assessment Tool for Field and Desk. I co-facilitated and was a presenter at the USAID Wildlife Asia Pangolin Care Workshop. At the 4th Regional Dialogue on Combating Trafficking of Wild Fauna and Flora, I facilitated the species roundtables on pangolins. I have trekked with forest rangers in Cambodia, journeyed to the streets of Hanoi to research the illegal wildlife trade, and to the rainforests of Sumatra and Java to document the world’s rarest rhinos. At CITES meetings, I collaborate with colleagues from around the world to lobby in favor of protecting endangered species. I hosted the Behind the Schemes podcast and am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine. I enjoy music, desert gardening, herping, reading, creating, and walking with my dogs. Check out my t-shirts and stickers at snoots + teefers.