South Africa Wildlife Trafficking Assessment

Over 40% of the global air sector’s known rhino horn seizures originate from, or transit through, South Africa. Over half of known South African air trafficking instances involve rhino horn. Moreover, rhino horn trafficking along South African air routes appears to be on the rise—the total weight of known trafficked rhino horn in 2019 exceeds that of any other year by more than 100kg. Ivory and mammal products each appear in approximately 20% of known South African trafficking instances, the latter including big cats, cow, hyena, and donkey products. Many wildlife trafficking instances leaving South Africa pass through the Middle East. Between 2017 and 2019, Qatar, Turkey, and the UAE were listed as transit points for over 25% of known trafficking instances.