Nearly 2,500 rare rhino horns burnt in India to send warning to poachers

Around 2,500 rhino horns have been burnt in India – to send a warning to poachers that killing the at-risk animals is illegal.

Many of the horns burnt on the massive pyres were seized by officials from criminal gangs and have been kept in storage for decades.

Although poaching is illegal, horns are continually sought after for their supposed medicinal values and as a status symbol.

But the public torching of so many was intended to show they are of no value and should be left alone.

The stunt coincided with World Rhino Day, an event which tries to raise awareness of the impact of poaching.

Assam, where the burning took place, is home to 71% of the world’s population of one horned rhinoceros.

The species was classified as ‘endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List but has since been changed to ‘vulnerable’ status.

Some 2,479 horns were burnt on the fire while 100 were kept for study and 29 were set aside as they are needed in ongoing court cases.

Among the samples preserved was the longest horn recorded and the heaviest.

Ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine and is advertised as being able to cure a range of ailments, including cancer and hangovers. It is also thought to be an aphrodisiac.

In Vietnam, possessing a rhino horn is considered a status symbol but their sale has been banned worldwide since 1977.

Poaching has caused the extinction of rhinos from many areas of India but deaths have been declining in recent years thanks to conservation efforts.

Two of the herbivores were killed by poachers in Assam in 2020, according to The International Rhino Foundation.

‘A rhino horn has supreme value only when it is intact to the living rhino. These horns have no value,’ Assam’s Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said during the ceremony in the town of Bokakhat.

‘With today’s action, Assam wants to send two messages – that we don’t believe that rhino horns have any medicinal value and that we only believe in preserving the living rhinos.’