Legalising rhino horn trade for rhino conservation in South Africa

In a press release on Thursday, 30 October 2025, South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE) put out a statement by its Minister, Dr Dion George, saying, “South Africa will not support any move to reopen the ivory or rhino horn trade. Our duty is to protect our wildlife, not to profit from their destruction.”

Then on Friday, 31 October 2025, a South African High Court delivered a landmark judgment confirming that rhino horn trade is indeed legal under South African law, albeit with some small print details:

• The exemption contained in Article VII (5) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is part of South African domestic law.
• In circumstances where the Management Authority is satisfied that the rhino horn comes from a white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) that was bred in captivity for conservation purposes:
  • The Management Authority shall, upon application, issue a permit/certificate to that effect;
  • A certificate shall be accepted instead of any permits and certificates required under the provisions of Article III, IV, or V of CITES;
  • An import permit from the State of Import is not required for the export of rhino horn from South Africa by a person who has been issued a permit/certificate.

Let’s unpack the small print. First, CITES Article VII (5) states: "Where a Management Authority of the State of export is satisfied that any specimen of an animal species was bred in captivity… a certificate by that Management Authority to that effect shall be accepted." This means that only a certificate issued by a country's Management Authority is required to export a captive-bred specimen, such as a horn from a captive-bred rhino. The Management Authority is responsible for managing a country’s CITES obligations.

In South Africa, the CITES Management Authority operates under the framework of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act. It is based in DFFE and includes provincial conservation authorities. The ruling makes clear that the Management Authority “shall, upon application, issue a permit/certificate” for an export of horn from a captive-bred rhino. 

Also, note that the ruling specifies that the species must have been “bred in captivity for conservation purposes.” This means that the captive breeding organisation is registered by a provincial authority that recognises that its primary aim is conservation, as was the case in this ruling. 

Further, the ruling makes clear that an import permit is not required from the importing State. Such a permit is required for trade in species listed on CITES Appendix I. Captive-bred species, however, are not subject to the measures in place for species listed on the CITES Appendices and thus do not require a CITES import permit.

The case was brought before the Court by Hendrick (Wicus) Diedericks, a registered rhino breeder in the Northern Cape. In his press release on the ruling, he explains the profound implications of this ruling: "In a landmark ruling, the High Court in Kimberley has opened the door for legal and regulated international trade in rhino horn—a decision that could save the species, fund conservation, and uplift rural communities across South Africa."

This ruling is likely to stimulate growth in conservation rhino breeding in South Africa by private, community, and public land managers. Where horns can be harvested sustainably and legally from wild and rewilded rhinos, this ruling could further encourage the Government to issue export permits as well for these horns.

From an international perspective, the Court ruling actually puts South Africa in a leadership role supporting the CITES vision that “by 2030, all international trade in wild fauna and flora is legal and sustainable.”  At the CITES Conference later this month, Minister George and the South African delegation have a unique opportunity to demonstrate South Africa’s commitment to this vision by promoting the country's legal support for trading rhino horn to conserve rhinos.

Two rhino breeding operations in South Africa

• Rockwood Private Game Reserve - Nestled in the vast heartland of the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, Rockwood is a privately owned 33,000 acre nature reserve that protects one of the largest populations of Southern White Rhinos on the planet.
• Black Rock Rhino - Our objective is to save all rhino species from extinction, and to breed them back to healthy populations.