International News

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 27, (APP/AFP) – South Africa’s
first online auction of rhino horn — held his week amid outrage from conservationists — attracted fewer buyers than anticipated, lawyers for the organiser said Saturday.
John Hume, owner of the world’s largest rhino farm, organised the
controversial three-day selloff which ended on Friday.
Hume “has successfully concluded the world’s first legal online auction of
rhinoceros horn,” his lawyers said in a statement, but gave no details.
“The auction yielded fewer bidders and fewer sales than anticipated,” they
added “but the legal domestic trade has now been re-established and the road
has been paved for future sales”.
But “bidders were duly authorised to participate in the auction and were
issued with legally required permits to participate,” the lawyers said.
The auctioneers did not set any opening prices for bids, but all potential
bidders had to pay a 100,000 rand ($7,626) registration fee to gain access to
the online auction.
The auction was delayed for two days after a legal challenge and protests
from conservation groups arguing that the sale would fuel poaching and
undermine a 40-year global ban on the rhino trade.
Hume, who owns 1,500 rhinos on his farm north of Johannesburg and has
amassed six tonnes of rhino horn, eventually secured a permit for the auction.
However the auction organisers blamed the delays for the subdued sales.
Hume harvests the horns by tranquilising the animals and cutting them off
— a technique he says is humane and wards off poachers.
Hume organised the sale to dispose of 264 pieces of horns weighing a total
of 500 kilogrammes (1,100 pounds). He is planning an offline auction next month.