KUALA LUMPUR: In Vietnam, rhino horns are believed to be the cure of all cures. Grind them up in to medicine and thousands of Vietnamese come crawling to spend exorbitant amounts of money for the horns, largely the result of illegal poaching in South Africa. Now, the two countries are looking to work closer in order to prevent, and ultimately, end the illegal trading in rhino horns, which has devastated the animals' population in southern Africa. According to the Department of Environmental Affairs, South Africa has already lost more than 240 rhinos to illegal hunting since the beginning of the year. Deputy Minister of International Relations, Ebrahim Ebrahim said: “We are also preparing a memorandum of understanding – not just between us but there are other departments that are involved. The Department of Justice, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Environmental Affairs will all be involved and in each department we will have to meet with the counterparts in Vietnam and see how these agreements will have to be implemented." Ebrahim said both countries had expressed deep concern over the ongoing illegal hunting and trafficking of wildlife products, particularly rhino horn. “The two sides agreed to work closely together, through bilateral and multi-lateral mechanisms, to address concerns in this area to protect these endangered species,” he told reporters in Pretoria. Activists have expressed their hope that the new initiatives will be a boost to the ending of the killing of rhinos in South Africa, where they are slaughtered for their horn to be sent to Vietnam. “We hope this is the beginning of the end of this ongoing tragedy,” an activist in Hanoi told Bikyamasr.com. The activist, who also doubles as an environmental consultant with the Vietnam government, said that the country needs a PR campaign to reduce the belief that rhino horns have any actual affect on health issues. “This is the major problem,” she continued. “Vietnamese believe they are getting a cure, when in fact, the horns are an ancient belief that has no basis in modern medicine, both Western and Eastern and we hope to end this so the killings stop.”
