“It is necessary to show clearly that the situation of rhinos in the wild is critical and that it is the demand for rhino horn what drives them towards extinction,” said Premysl Rabas, the director of the Dvur Kralove Zoo.

“Burning itself is a symbolic event that calls on everyone to re-cosider consequences of her/his behaviour. By buying rhino horn you fund criminal gangs and poachers. As a consequence of smuggling and trading in rhino horn, the rangers are killed, innhabitants of poor African regions are terrorized and beautiful animals are destined to suffer cruel death. All of this despite the fact that rhino horn has no properties that it is believed to have. Its consistency is similar to consistency of human nails or hair.”A

At the eleventh hour

The major burning of rhino horns will take place in Dvur Kralove on 21st September, just a day before the World Rhino Day, at 11 am (“at the eleventh hour”). Under armed customs supervision, the pile will be ignited by a legendary conservationist Tony Fitzjohn who worked with George Adamson of Born Free fame and who runs a rhino sanctuary in Tanzania now. Tony Fitzjohn will be accompanied by Monika Leova, Miss Earth Czech Republic 2013, who is of Vietnamese origin. China and Vietnam are major markets for illegal trade in rhino horn.

The burning will be organized under the auspices of the Czech Minister of Environment. The ministry has committed itself to destroy rhino horn seized during an operation against illegal trafficking and Richard Brabec, Czech Minister of Environment, will be present at the ceremony.

The ceremony in Dvur Kralove will be witnessed by many other guests, speeches are expected to be delivered by the CITES Secretary-General John Scanlon and Member of European Parliament Pavel Poc who is a co-author of the EP resolution on wildlife crime. Representatives of the UN, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and many other organizations will be present as well.

International event

The Slovak Republic decided to participate in the campaign as well through its Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Finance (Customs Unit). Slovakia will burn seized horns at the same time in Zoo Bojnice which is run as a public body controlled by Ministry of Environment.

Many other institutions have joined the appeal. Number of reserves, animal parks or zoological gardens, for example in Port Lympne (United Kingdom), Doué-la-Fontaine (France), Wroclaw (Poland), Tallinn (Estonia), Bratislava (Slovakia) and Plzen (Czech Republic), will hold events to raise awareness on the plight of rhinos. Some of them will also burn rhino horns in memory of poached rhinos.

Important part of the appeal will be organized by Kenyan Ol Pejeta Conservancy, East Africa’s largest black rhino sanctuary. The reserve will open a rhino cemetery for all rhinos killed by poachers over the last years. Mkomazi Reserve of Tanzania and its supporting George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust participate in the campaign as well.

In Asia, the Wildlife Reserves of Singapore will launch their month-lasting campaign during the same week-end. Apart from an exhibition of Sumatran rhino photographs and a public seminar on the plight of rhinos, the Singapore Zoo will set up a booth highlighting that rhino horn is just keratin (material of human hair and nails) and does not have medicinal value near the entrance of the Zoo. At this booth, visitors will be requested to clip their nails as a pledge to not buy or use rhino horn products.

The whole campaign has been supported by many authorities on conservation. “I commend Zoo Dvur for its action in publicly burning the horns of its deceased rhinos. This action will raise public awareness of the slaughter of wild rhino in order to trade their horns,” wrote Dame Jane Goodall, a world famous primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace.

“The public burning of rhino horn is a very worthwhile demonstration of the crisis facing rhino world wide,” wrote Richard Leakey, a famed Kenyan anthropologist and conservationist who pioneered burning ivory and rhino horn stockpiles and dramatically reduced poaching in Kenya, in an e-mail to organizers.

“It is great that zoos are going to burn their rhino horn stockpiles. I wholeheartedly support it. It is long overdue and I hope that more zoos and governments will do the same, along with using all their powers to pressurize the end-users,” said Tony Fitzjohn, OBE who is to ignite the pile in Dvur Kralove.

For more information, please, see:
http://www.burnhorns.org/en 

Media contact: Jan Stejskal, M: +420 608 009 072, E: jan.stejskal@zoodk.cz

Quotations of some of the supporters of the campaign:

Jane Goodall (world famous primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace): “I commend Zoo Dvur for its action in publicly burning the horns of its deceased rhinos. This action will raise public awareness of the slaughter of wild rhino in order to trade their horns.  The plight of wild rhinos - and elephants as well - is dire, and it is up to each and every one of us to help to try and end the hideous massacre.”

Richard Leakey (famed Kenyan anthropologist and conservationist who pioneered burning ivory and rhino horn stockpiles and dramatically reduced poaching in Kenya): “The public burning of rhino horn is a very worthwhile demonstration of the crisis facing rhino world wide. Intelligent, educated people world wide recognize that horn from this critically endangered animal is worthless. Burning it and ridiculing those who value it is an excellent idea.”

Thu Minh (famous Vietnamese pop-singer): “Vietnam is well-known as a nice and friendly country. But in Africa I experienced how horrible things we cause to rhinos due to consumption of their horns. In Vietnam, we have to understand that for the future of rhinos and for the honor of our country we must stop buying rhino horn. The only way forward is to keep rhinos alive, not to trade with their body parts.”

Ian Craig (founder of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya): “As Conservationists across the world strive to secure species and habitats against the increasing pressures of human greed, Zoos have a vital role to play in sharing this information with the public. The plight of wildlife passes quickly through the press whilst Zoos hold the continuity of the message. The farsighted decision and leadership of Zoo Dvur Kralove and its partners to publicly destroy their stocks of Rhino horn sends a clear message, dispelling the myth of Rhino horns medicinal value and emphasises how this baseless belief is driving a species to extinction.”

Monika Leová (Miss Earth Czech Republic 2013, model and TV presenter of Vietnamese origin): “I have to admit that this is quite personal theme for me. I know from my close relatives that belief in the properties of rhino horn is still present in our culture, although in reality rhino horn has not such effects. It is necessary to show that buying rhino horn is just waste of money that leads to killing of rhinos. I believe that Vietnam, the country of my predecessors, has a unique chance to help to save these beautiful animals.”

Tony Fitzjohn (legendary conservationist who worked with George Adamson of Born Free fame in Kenya and now runs a rhino sanctuary in Tanzania): “It is great that zoos are going to burn their rhino horn stockpiles. I wholeheartedly support it. It is long overdue and I hope that more zoos and governments will do the same, along with using all their powers to pressurize the end-users. It is essential to reduce rhino horn consumption as much as possible and make people aware of the final extermination of the species that will result if this trade continues. Every step in restricting the trade and exposing the myths of its properties matters immensely and helps to protect and perpetuate rhinos here in Africa.”

Pavel Poc (Member of European Parliament and co-author of the EP resolution on wildlife crime): “When it comes to the burning of the rhino horns, I have heard many arguments against it, typically those centred around the idea that the horns could be sold and the profits should be used for the very protection of rhinos. Obviously, it sounds tempting, but unfortunately this is not how the things work in todays world. Opening of the legal trade with the rhino horns encourages attempts to legalize the rhino horns on the black market and escalates poaching. Indeed, we have already witnessed similar situation in the case of ivory. For me, the value of such an action, inter alia, is that the very people, who could have legal profits from such business, destroy the rhino horns in order to draw attention to the fact that any trade with the rhino horns is unacceptable.”

Azzedine Downes (CEO and President of the International Fund for Animal Welfare): “The Czech government and Dvůr Králové should be saluted for taking a firm and public stand on rhino horn trafficking. We have lost 769 rhinos so far this year, and there is no indication that the rhino poaching crisis is coming under control. Not only are rhino deaths continuing, but the rhino trade is undercutting law and order in range states and enriching organized crime syndicates – the slaughter of rhinos must be stopped. Some have suggested legalizing the rhino horn trade to end poaching. We share the belief of all those involved in this rhino burning initiative that there is nothing sustainable about the current rhino crisis. IFAW report, Horn of Contention, shows that economic models do not support legalising trade as a method to stop poaching. We call on others who have rhino horn to destroy their stocks and show the world that trade in rhino horns is unacceptable.”

Mary Rice (Executive Director of The Environmental Investigation Agency): “For the proponents of wildlife trade, the destruction of stockpiled rhino horn is anathema. But history teaches us that securing a future for rhino in the wild requires a determined and visionary step which Zoo Dvur Kralove and its partners are taking.  By publically destroying the stock, a very clear and unequivocal message is being relayed: rhino horn has no value except for the animal to which it once belonged; the custodians of those rhino will never attempt to sell this horn. We applaud this action which will ensure that the remains of these animals are put beyond the use or access of the criminal networks who use increasingly sophisticated methods and scams to prey on people who put misguided faith into the efficacy of horn as a viable medicine.  EIA fully endorses this initiative, and other than horns required for law enforcement and training purposes, we would further encourage zoos around the world to do the same, and particularly in Europe in keeping with EU regulations.”

Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic (Scientific Authority of CITES in the Czech Republic): “We would like to express our support for burning of rhino horn stockpiles in the possession of the ZOO Dvur Kralove. We are grateful for your contibution to the effort at breaking the growing market with rhino horns and we hope that the campaign will reach public worldwide and especially in range states and in consumer countries. You are welcome to share our endorsement to the Burn Horns campaign in public space. Our support belongs to the organizations that are considering taking part in the campaign or are actively involved in it already as well.”