Rhino horn is sustainable in the sense the animal does not need to be slaughtered to obtain the horn. Horns are made of keratin and regrow after being trimmed, similar to our own fingernails. Farming rhinos seems like a simple practice to take care of the supply side of the trade without rhinos dying at the hand of poachers.

Most know John Hume as the world’s most popular rhino breeder. He owns approximately seven percent of all rhinos currently alive on the planet on his South African game farm. The survival of the species seems clear to him, stop the illegal slaughter by supplying foreign countries with legally harvested horn.

According to Hume, no species has ever gone extinct with ranchers domesticating them for economic reasons. Additionally, we already have an example of legal trade saving a species from extinction with the vicuna in South America. As well, the current poaching crisis was specifically fueled by South Africa’s decision to ban the domestic rhino horn trade in 2009.

Hume has asked for his detractors to show him one species that went extinct while humans attempted to domesticate it. Technically, he has a point because no one can physically show him an extinct species since it no longer exists. Hume is wrong though, domestic cattle descended from aurochs and guess what? Aurochs went extinct a few hundred years ago.

Chinchillas are a cute and cuddly species domesticated for both the pet and fur industries. Groups in North America breed the animals for economic benefit similar to how Hume exploits rhinos on his ranch. Unfortunately, chinchillas are native to South America where they are currently on the fast track to extinction. The species is listed as endangered and the population continues to decline despite commercial breeding programs.

You’ll soon be able to add chinchillas to the list with aurochs for species gone extinct even with humans breeding them for economic gain. And before anyone jumps in to say their genes are passed on in the domestic species, read why domestication is a fate worse than extinction.

The pro-trade argument citing the success of the vicuna recovery in South America, once again, makes little sense. Hume claims legal trade in vicuna wool saved the species from over hunting but the opposite is true.

Vicunas nearly went extinct by the 1960s thanks to the insatiable desire to hunt them and sell their wool. CITES stepped in with a trade moratorium and the species’ population increased over the next thirty years. Its absolutely clear banning trade saved the species, not the other way around.

Legal trade resumed in the 1990s only after the population was stable again. Its important to note the species is currently listed as least concern for extinction but, while certain populations are doing well, other populations have seen dramatic decreases or even disappeared. Legal trade brought along another host of problems even though the species continues to survive.

Poaching increased after the trade moratorium was lifted. Italian and Argentinean businesses took control of the legal markets and pushed away any potential benefits from local communities. Local communities became less likely to protect the species once they saw foreigners reaping the rewards.