Behaviour change can stop poaching: WWF
Updated | By Lonwabo Miso

"Targeting behaviour change by users is important. New users and new markets have emerged, resulting in the spike in poaching," chief executive Morne du Plessis told reporters via video link from Cape Town.
"The horn was primarily for medicinal use. Now there is a form of new consumption by affluent businessmen who use it as a social status and for corporate gifts."
Du Plessis said most rhino horns went to Vietnam.
The Asian country is at the centre of the illicit rhino horn trade where it has been used for many centuries in traditional Chinese medicines as a cure for various fevers.
The WWF launched the "Power Comes From Our Will" campaign in Vietnam on Monday, targeting men aged between 35 and 50 living in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Du Plessis said men in this age group believed rhino horn was an effective way to rid the body of toxins, enhance business relationships, promote masculinity, and improve luck.
"The campaign drives home the message that Vietnam's most impressive and charismatic men have created their own good fortune with their internal drive, dedication and talent, and know a piece of horn is no substitute for the power that lies inside of them," he said.
WWF rhino programme manager, Jo Shaw, said demand for the horn had grown in the past five years.
"The key to the future of our rhinos will ultimately be determined in Asia, not Africa. It's important that we work strategically along the entire illicit supply chain, from rhino to consumer... if we hope to win this war," said Shaw.
So far this year, more than 730 rhino had been killed for their horns by poachers in South Africa, most of them in the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga.
Over 1000 were killed last year.
(File Photo: Gallo Images)
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