November 10, 2012
Friday was a good day for Africa's rhinoceroses after a judge there sentenced a poacher, Thai national Chumlong Lemtongthai, to a 40-year jail sentence. Mr Lemtongthai was the head of a criminal ring that traded rhino horns, mostly for the Asian medicine markets. Charges against South African and foreign accomplices, however, were dropped.
It is not clear why Marnus Steyl, two of his farm labourers and a couple of foreign nationals were let off the hook; not why Harry Claasens, a professional hunter and hunting safari operator, was granted complete immunity for agreeing to testify against Mr Lemtongthai. This is clearly sending out mixed messages. Even more misleading is South Africa's lax attitude to hunting. The syndicate was exploiting one South Africa's laws allowing hunters to kill one rhino a year, by paying prostitutes to pose as hunters. The government is entrusted with protecting its wildlife not exploiting it for sport.
The WWF summed it up nicely in its statement regarding the conviction:
"Sadly, this does not send a similarly strong message regarding South Africa's attitude to the ongoing involvement of its own citizens in rhino crimes."
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