Saying no to poaching

Ma Weidu, antique collector and dealer. [Photo/INVESTEC RHINO LIFELINE]

Despite the brutality of poaching, many antique collectors still value rhino horn over live animals.

Such tainted products should be banned from sale in any form, says leading Chinese antique dealer Ma Weidu.

In September, Ma endorsed a new campaign against the rhino horn trade launched jointly by nonprofit organizations WildAid, the African Wildlife Foundation and National Geographic's Traveler magazine in China.

"Despite the fact that ivory has been appreciated by the Chinese since the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago, and rhino horn items since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), prices were never ramped up in the domestic market," Ma says.

Unfortunately, major auction houses outside China have been selling rhino horn artifacts at extremely high prices, encouraging poaching and smuggling and pushing the rhinoceros closer to extinction.