"South Africa's Top Court Lifts Ban On Domestic Sales Of Rhino Horn"

"A global ban on horn trade remains in place but a proposal to end the domestic ban was initiated from private rhino owners who say they need to harvest and sell horns from live animals to afford spiraling security costs over protecting the rhinos from poachers."

"JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa's Constitutional Court has dismissed an appeal by the Department of Environmental Affairs to keep a moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horn, according to court documents seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Pelham Jones, chairman of South Africa's Private Rhino Owners Association (PROA) which was one of the respondents in the case, told Reuters the decision meant that the sale of rhino horns was legal in South Africa.

'We welcome the Constitutional Court ruling, we believe it is a right we have been entitled to,' he told Reuters.

A global ban in the horn trade, which is regulated by a United Nations convention, remains in place, which means horn acquired legally in South Africa cannot be exported from the country."

Ed Stoddard reports for Reuters April 6, 2017.