Rhino Horn Eating
Despite numerous studies showing that rhino horn has no healing properties, Elle MacPherson, supermodel, businesswoman and presenter of Britain's Next Top Model , said she uses this powdered remedy because "it works for me". In an interview with The Times Online via Twitter, Elle Macpherson says the illegal substance tastes like “crushed bone and fungus”.
The consumption of rhino horn, an economic factor that supports poaching, is one of the main causes, both past and present, of the gradual disappearance of rhinos and, as regards four particular subspecies, their complete extinction.
Furthermore, currently four of the five existing species are at risk of extinction, while three are almost completely extinct: in fact, only 50 adult specimens of Javan rhino and less than 250 of the Sumatran rhino remain.
Last year, to meet the demand for rhino horn, poaching reached its highest level in fifteen years. Usually, before sawing off the horn, poachers shoot or celery the animal which then often dies from bleeding.
However, poaching affects not only rhinos but sometimes also the rangers who protect them: last month, in India, a ranger was kidnapped and then killed with two bullets in the stomach by a group of poachers.
Rhino horn powder, such as that used by MacPherson, is certainly not cheap: last year, a kilo sold for around $60,000 (€48,000), almost $20,000 (€16,000) more expensive than gold .
Although there have been debates on legalizing the trade of this product in order to lower its price and use the proceeds for protection, it should be remembered that currently the purchase of products containing rhino horn is prohibited worldwide according to the Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora (CITES).