National Geographic: The Rhino War Page #2

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as the major exit point

in Africa for rhino horn.

So I believe a

very large proportion

must be going out from

this one country.

But we also know from

countries like Zimbabwe

and Tanzania

that a certain amount of rhino

horn has gone out in

diplomatic pouches.

It's almost certainly an

international

illegal network, if you like,

involving corrupt

government officials,

corrupt businessmen,

and corrupt politicians,

and it's this sort of

triangular Mafia-like alliance

which has made it so powerful.

It's not only affected rhinos,

it's also affected elephants

and ivory-the two are very

closely linked.

Throughout history,

the port of Mombasa,

many kinds of illegal trade.

Rhino horn, leopard skins, gold,

ivory each dealer has

his specialty.

This pile of ivory,

taken from 500 elephants,

was hidden in falsely

labeled spice crates.

It was seized by

Kenyan customs officials

while awaiting shipment

to the Middle East.

The route is an old one,

for thousands of year,

Arab dhows have sailed these waters,

sometimes with valuable

contraband aboard.

In this way, the horn of

countless slaughtered

rhino have made

their way across the sea.

In recent years, the horn has

often ended its journey in

North Yemen.

It is here that one more

damaging twist to the

black rhino story has

been added.

The oil boom of the early 70s

created lucrative work for

migrant Yemeni

laborers in Saudi Arabia

and other Gulf states.

For the first time, the workers

had ready cash to

spend on luxuries,

including the ultimate

symbol of virility,

the rhino horned dagger,

or iambia.

The discovery of the new

threat to the rhino

was made by Kenyan-based

geographer Esmond

Bradley Martin.

I first came to North Yemem

in 1978 when

I was doing a general

sort of survey of the country

and discovered at that time

that perhaps 50% of all the

rhino horn in the world was

coming up here so Sanaa

for the making of

dagger handles.

The rhino horn handle,

once reserved for the

aristocracy,

is treasured far above

alternatives like cow or

water buffalo.

A fine antique may sell for

$15,000.

When polished, the horn takes

on an amber opalescence

greatly admired for

its subtle beauty.

Esmond Bradley Martin began an

international camping to stop

the rhino horn trade,

encouraging the use of

substitutes.

After some 10 years,

his work is showing signs of

success.

International trade has slowed

in many eastern countries,

and since 1985,

the North Yemeni government

has been enforcing a

ban on importation.

But it's not early enough.

Where there is profit,

men will trade.

The middleman, by transporting

the horn from the smuggler to

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