{"id":38013,"date":"2026-05-09T02:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/38013\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T02:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T02:11:07","slug":"rhino-rancher-seeks-south-african-courts-approval-to-export-479-rhino-horns-to-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/38013\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhino rancher seeks South African court\u2019s approval to export 479 rhino horns to Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Since 1977, all rhino species have been listed under CITES Appendix I, effectively banning international commercial trade.Siphiwe Sibeko\/Reuters<\/p>\n

A rhino rancher is seeking South African<\/a> court approval to immediately export 479 rhino horns to Canada in what an international wildlife trade watchdog says could circumvent both the international ban on commercial trade in the product and Canada\u2019s own regulations.<\/p>\n

The international Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released a report<\/a> this week that profiles the case of Hendrick Diedericks, a game reserve owner who wants to export 502 horns to eight locations. <\/p>\n

China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, the U.S. and Vietnam would receive three to five horns each. <\/p>\n

But the bulk are proposed for a single Ontario<\/a> address.<\/p>\n

Rhinos return to protected Ugandan park four decades after poaching-driven extinction<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were shocked to see Canada as the main prospective importer for these horns \u2013 and the massive number of horns to be sent there,\u201d Taylor Tench, EIA senior wildlife policy analyst and lead author of the report, said earlier this week.<\/p>\n

The case exposes a paradox at the heart of Canada\u2019s wildlife trade framework \u2013 gaps in its regulations may be the reason that Canada is a safe bet, experts say. And what worries them more than whether the shipment arrives is what happens to it if it does.<\/p>\n

The volume proposed for Canada indicates that Mr. Diedericks and his associate, Derek Lewitton \u2013 the U.S. citizen named to receive the Canadian imports \u2013 were confident that the federal government would allow it, said Mr. Tench. Neither Mr. Lewitton nor Mr. Diedericks responded to questions from The Globe and Mail about the proposed shipment. <\/p>\n

The permit applications were filed in South Africa before Canada introduced new regulations in 2024 banning raw rhino horn and elephant ivory imports. But experts worry that Ottawa\u2019s stricter regulations leave the door open. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m guessing this regulation has never been tried yet,\u201d said Sheldon Jordan, a former director-general of wildlife enforcement at Environment and Climate Change Canada and a onetime Interpol official. \u201cIt would be interesting, if a shipment arrives, how enforcement officers apply the definition of raw rhino horn in this regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Tench said that his reading of the regulations \u201cindicates that they should be sufficient to prohibit the import \u2013 but a clear answer from Environment Canada is needed.\u201d <\/p>\n

The number of rhinos is slightly up but poaching has increased, too<\/a><\/p>\n

The Environment Ministry is the country\u2019s management authority for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) \u2013 the global treaty that sets legally binding rules for the trade of wild animal and plant products for 184 countries and the European Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cRequests to import rhinoceros horn would be assessed on a case-by-case basis to determine if the request aligns with our implementing legislation,\u201d Samantha Bayard, a spokesperson for the department said in a statement to The Globe. She added that \u201cEnvironment and Climate Change Canada cannot disclose information related to applications for individual CITES permits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Jordan said that he does not \u201csee a world where there is a market in Canada for 479 rhino horns.\u201d He spent more than a decade as a border enforcement officer before moving into wildlife enforcement. \u201cI\u2019m not really worried about it coming into Canada illegally. I\u2019m more worried about it leaving Canada illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 1977, all rhino species have been listed under CITES Appendix I \u2013 the treaty\u2019s most restrictive designation \u2013 effectively banning international commercial trade. The global community has rejected 10 separate proposals to overturn that ban, including two at last November\u2019s CITES COP20. <\/p>\n

Proponents of legal trade argue that it could finance conservation and undercut poachers, while critics counter that it stimulates demand and makes it easier to launder illegal horn alongside legal stockpiles. <\/p>\n

Having failed through every other channel, South African ranchers are turning to domestic courts. Decades of dehorning have created significant private stockpiles of \u201cgrey gold\u201d that ranchers want to liquidate.<\/p>\n

While most rhino species are critically endangered, the southern white rhino \u2013 the species at the centre of the Diedericks case \u2013 is listed as near threatened, with 76 per cent of the approximately 15,750 individuals found in South Africa.<\/p>\n

The court challenge has been widely reported in South Africa since October, 2025, when the Northern Cape High Court ruled in his favour on a legal argument rooted in CITES Article VII(5), which exempts animals bred in captivity for non-commercial purposes from standard permitting requirements.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A wild white rhino in the North-West Province of South Africa in 2023.LUCA SOLA\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The South African government has applied for leave to appeal; a hearing took place April 29 and a decision is pending. If the appeal is denied, Canada may have limited legal recourse to refuse the shipment.<\/p>\n

Canada takes the treaty\u2019s rules at face value, Mr. Jordan says \u2013 meaning if South Africa is compelled to issue the certificates, Ottawa may feel bound to accept them. \u201cCanada is seen as a stable, rule-of-law place where, if it can go legally, that\u2019s why it would come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canada strengthened its position in 2024 under wildlife trade legislation by revising regulations to ban raw rhino-horn imports except where destined for a museum or zoo, use in scientific research, or use in support of law enforcement. But the export-permit application lists a medicinal purpose code \u2013 one that could qualify under Canada\u2019s scientific exception. <\/p>\n

Rhino horn is made of keratin \u2013 the same protein as human fingernails \u2013 and has no evaluated pharmacological benefits. However, it is highly sought in Vietnam and China for unproven uses, from lowering fever to treating cancer. <\/p>\n

Mr. Jordan estimates the proposed shipment\u2019s wholesale value at approximately $26-million, rising to $80-million at street value \u2013 a rough estimate, given the clandestine nature of the trade.<\/p>\n

Canada releases long-awaited strategy to protect endangered whales from fishing gear<\/a><\/p>\n

It would not be the first time in Canada that legal product has moved into markets where it\u2019s illegal. In the early 2010s, approximately 250 narwhal tusks legally harvested in Nunavut were smuggled into the U.S., where the import is prohibited. A cross-border investigation, known as Operation Longtooth, resulted in convictions in both countries \u2013 wildlife export violations in Canada, money laundering in the U.S.<\/p>\n

The concern now is that 479 rhino horns could follow a similar route: entering Canada legally, then vanishing into illegal trade networks bound for Asia. The other proposed destinations cited in the report reinforce that concern: Laos is under active CITES trade suspension; the Vietnam address belongs to a four-star Hanoi hotel; and the Hong Kong company carries a Myanmar-linked name and doesn\u2019t appear in any business registry.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is going to suspect rhino horn coming from Canada,\u201d said Mr. Jordan. \u201cA Vietnamese or Thai authority is not going to be looking for rhino horn in a package from Canada the way they would in one coming from South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concern,\u201d he said, \u201cis whether Canada is being used to stage rhino-horn-laundering.\u201d <\/p>\n

This story is produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Since 1977, all rhino species have been listed under CITES Appendix I, effectively…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":38014,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[164,224,238,214,212,239,17,211,230,231,227,213,210,235,171,234,143,222,249,215,216,229,225,226,219,240,220,244,245,247,242,246,94,243,217,142,233,113,232,241,223,236,237,228,221,218,248],"class_list":{"0":"post-38013","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-canada","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-northwest-territories","38":"tag-nova-scotia","39":"tag-nunavut","40":"tag-ontario","41":"tag-pei","42":"tag-photos","43":"tag-political-news","44":"tag-political-opinion","45":"tag-politics","46":"tag-politics-news","47":"tag-quebec","48":"tag-sports-news","49":"tag-technology","50":"tag-travel","51":"tag-trudeau","52":"tag-us-news","53":"tag-world-news","54":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}