Namibia fails in attempt to legalise rhino trade

The government of Namibia’s proposals to remove the ban on the international trade of rhino horns have been refused at a major conservation meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, according to a report from The BBC on 5th November.

Needing a two-thirds majority for a proposal to be adopted, The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(Cites) voted 90 to 30 in favour of upholding the bans on the international trade of black and white rhino horns.

Namibia’s attempt to abolish the trade ban on African savanna elephant ivory also failed.

Despite the countries reputation as pioneers of the removal of rhino horns in the 1990s to eliminate their value to poachers, experts believe they now hold huge numbers of horns because of this practice, therefore explaining their desire to undo the current ruling.

Taylor Tench, senior wildlife policy analyst with the Environmental Investigation Agency, told the BBC: “Namibia’s stockpiles are an estimated 6.45 tonnes of white rhino horn and an estimated 4.6 tonnes of black rhino horn.”

These horns are a desired commodity in South-East Asian markets, where they are used in the production of medicine and adorned as status-symbols in the houses of the wealthy.

Although the trade of rhino parts was outlawed by Cites in 1977, poaching has continued, with more than 8000 illegally killed since 2015 according to Save The Rhino International.

As a result of this trade, black rhinos are considered a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), having experienced a population decline of more than 90% since 1960.

However, statistics from 2025 paint a slightly more positive picture, as a dwindling population received some good news.  A global assessment by the International Rhino Foundation in August, discovered that black rhino numbers had increased to 7788 from 6195 in the previous count.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the white rhino population, which decreased from 15,942 to 15,752 over a four-year period.

International Rhino Foundation, Maghrebi.org, BBC, Save The Rhino International, International Union for Conservation of Nature