 Reference Base  Under siege: poaching and protection of greater one-horne... |
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Menon, V., 1995. Under siege: poaching and protection of greater one-horned rhinoceroses in India. Delhi, Traffic India, pp. i-iv, 1-114
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| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Value - Related to Horn |
| Species: |
Asian Rhino Species |
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India. The price per kilogramme rose from Rs7333 (US$1535) in 1965-66, to Rs 1 6 001 (US$1975) in 1978-79. In 1979-80, however, coincident with the cessation of legal sales of horn in Assam, the price went up about four-fold to Rs62 500 (US$762 1) per kg.
Today, research for this report revealed that poachers get ca Rs. 100.000 (over US$3000) on site (usually per horn), which then has to be shared between the team of three to five persons. When noting that foreign retailers receive many times this amount for Asian rhinoceros horn, it should be kept in mind that at this stage, the horn is never sold as such and the price is really a calculation based on the price for the minute quantities of rhinoceros horn powder and the medical knowledge dispensed by retail pharmacists.
It is revealing to compare the prices received for Indian horn with those in an African operative. For example, in South Africa traders received between US$535-890 per kilogramme if selling horn to a Chinese or Taiwanese at the beginning of the 1990s, and at least in one case the mark-up was so great that a Taiwanese trader received US$2000 per kilogramme of horn, in 1991, back in Taiwan (Martin, 1994). Bv comparison. the Indian middleman gets as much as Rs. 300.000 to Rs. 500.000, or roughly US$10 000-US$15 000 per kg of horn at the trade level in India.
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