CAPE TOWN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Tuesday welcomed the recent confiscation of rhino horns valued at an estimated 29 million rand (about two million U.S. dollars) by Hong Kong customs officials.
The interception of the rhino horns came amid intensified efforts to combat rising rhino poaching, the South African Ministry of Environmental Affairs (MEA) said.
The 82.5-kg rhino horns, which had allegedly been smuggled from South Africa in a shipment marked as vehicle parts, were destined for Malaysia when they were intercepted by the Hong Kong customs authorities at the Hong Kong International Airport, following a tip-off, according to the ministry.
The rhino horns were discovered when the shipment was X-rayed.
Hong Kong customs officials indicated that this was the single largest haul of endangered species products in five years. No arrests have been made.
It remains a concern that these consignments were not detected and seized before they left South Africa, MEA spokesperson Albi Modise said in a statement.
A review of the measures in place to make such detections is urgently required in order to continue to adapt to the shifts in the modus operandi of the syndicates involved in this transnational crime, said Modise.
Modise said her ministry is in contact with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation in Hong Kong so that DNA samples of the horns can be brought to South Africa to determine whether they are linked to any ongoing, or unsolved, poaching investigations.
South Africa, home to more than 85 percent of the world's rhino population, bears the brunt of rhino poaching.
Between 2013 and 2017, more than 1,000 rhinos were killed each year, according to official figures.
