Thousands of rhino horns burned in ceremony in India to mark World Rhino Day

Nearly 2,500 rare rhino horns were burned during a ceremony in Bokakhat, India on September 22, 2021, to showcase the northeastern town’s anti-poaching drive on World Rhino Day. The animal parts had been kept in government storage since 1969. The one-horned rhinoceros was once a common species in the region, but poaching and habitat loss have reduced its numbers to just a few thousand. Trade in rhino horns has been banned since 1977 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, but poaching has continued in part because of demand from China and Vietnam where the horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine. A report released by the International Rhino Foundation on September 20 offers hope for the creatures. It said rhino poaching deaths have fallen in recent years due to conservation initiatives in India and Nepal, where the one-horned rhinoceros population has rebounded to more than 3,700.