To save rhinos, sell their horns, scientists argue

WASHINGTON (AFP) - In order to save the perilously endangered rhinoceros, sales of its horns should be legalized, four leading environmental scientists said on Thursday in the influential journal Science.

"As committed environmentalists we don't like the idea of a legal trade any more than does the average member of the concerned public," wrote lead author Duan Biggs of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and University of Queensland.

"But we can see that we need to do something radically different to conserve Africa's rhino," he said.

Although there is a global ban on killing rhinoceroses and selling their horns, there is a fierce demand, mainly attributed to Asian consumers who use the ground up horn for traditional Chinese medicines.