Nhi Khe is a craft village located an hour north of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital. Walking past its beautifully aged architecture, listening to the exotic chirps of unseen wildlife that fills the humid air, you wouldn’t be able to tell at first glance that it is harboring a dark secret underpinned by criminal warfare. This is how YouTuber, actor and young animal advocate Jake Dudman found Nhi Khe as he entered the village back in May with ‘Arrow’ actor Paul Blackthorne. Their undercover mission was to record the illicit selling of poached rhino horn, trafficked into Vietnam from Africa.
“We were all a little tense,” Dudman said of the trip, which was part of the #SavetheRhinoVietnam campaign led by London-based charity Save the Rhino International. “Some locals seemed a little suspicious of these white westerners entering their village all of a sudden; they’re used to wealthy Chinese customers, not people dressed like Indiana Jones and Rambo!”
According to Susie Offord, Deputy Director of Save the Rhino International, this is because “rhino horn is something that only a very well connected, rich businessman or politician can acquire.” The mainspring behind the industry is the value that rhino horn still has in traditional Asian medicines and more recently, as a luxury item.
Blackthorne explained, “Vietnam’s economy has boomed and there’s a growing business elite. For people in these circles, rhino horn has become a status symbol – it’s fashionable.” In reality, the horn is made out of the same material as our fingernails and hair.
Although Dudman knew Nhi Khe had a market where the rare horn could be purchased, he was shocked by how openly available it was. “Seeing it was disgusting,” he conveyed, describing how the shopkeeper had handed over a picture of the $40,000 ‘product’. Dudman became increasingly disturbed to see tiger tooth, buffalo horn and ivory on exhibition, so close he could touch them. “It was mind-boggling to see all of these illegally traded animal parts delicately arranged on shelves, as if it were normal for them to be there.” The only piece of information that the shopkeeper wouldn’t reveal was who the rhino horn provider was.
It is now widely acknowledged that wildlife trafficking has long-reaching roots that are anchored in the murky underworld of criminal gang activity. As one of the most lucrative illicit industries in the world, there is often overlap with other forms of corruption, such as drug smuggling and the arms trade.
“It is being carried out by criminal gangs who are pocketing billions of dollars each year,” Dudman explained. “Some are attached to extremist groups that fund their terrorism with the money they make from selling rhino horn and ivory. It is widely believed that Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram are attached to this trade.” That there are links between terrorist militant groups and poaching is a chilling thought.
Inadequate judicial systems and poor punishments are considered partially to blame for this, which Save the Rhino International and its partner organisation Education for Nature Vietnam agreed is likely the case in Vietnam. Dudman hopes, however, that the evidence collected on his visit to Nhi Khe will help to change that, now that it has been delivered to the Vietnamese government’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
“I wasn’t a rhino fanatic when I got involved with this campaign,” Dudman said. “I’ve only ever seen rhinos in captivity. Miserable ones, I should add.” But like many people, Dudman has an innate love for wildlife and considers it our responsibility to protect them. His visits to universities and schools in Vietnam with Blackthorne, to educate and inspire others as he has been, was an important part of the campaign. “To think that we could be the ones to drive rhinos to extinction within the next ten years, when they have roamed our planet for over 50 million years, is terrible.”
This is the first year that the number of rhinos that will die because of poaching is expected to surpass the number that are born. For any population that is unsustainable, but for rhinos, it could very quickly mean the end of the entire species. And the welfare concern is just as horrifying. “Poached rhinos go through immense suffering having their horns hacked off,” stated Blackthorne, who believes there is still hope. “As a new trend, this is something we can change.”
And it’s not just rhinos that will benefit. As Dudman noted, “As part of the ‘Big Five’, rhinos attract money from tourists that may go into impoverished African communities. They are also an ‘umbrella species’, meaning that when rhinos are protected, many other species in their habitat are too.” But time is of the essence and Dudman is urging that we come together now to help see an end to rhino horn poaching.
“It’s important that we raise awareness about this issue, to stop funding terrorism and to save a species – before it’s too late.”
Please visit www.savetherhino.org to find out how you can support Save the Rhino International and the #SavetheRhinoVietnam campaign.
