:00:11. > :00:17.Record numbers of riders are being poached and killed in South Africa
:00:18. > :00:19.for their horns. Hundreds of them have been shot by Vietnamese
:00:20. > :00:26.hunters. And the horns are sold illegally in
:00:27. > :00:45.Vietnam's. The horn is made of keratin, the
:00:46. > :00:47.same material as fingernails, yet many people in Vietnam's believe it
:00:48. > :01:08.can cure life-threatening illnesses. It's illegal to trade in rhino horn
:01:09. > :01:13.in Vietnam yet I find people keen to sell it to me. With the Vietnamese
:01:14. > :01:15.getting richer, the trade is likely to boom. The African rhino could
:01:16. > :01:49.face extinction. Early morning in Hanoi. Laughing
:01:50. > :02:02.yoga session. People here have plenty to be happy about. After a
:02:03. > :02:09.half-century war against their former colonisers, the French, and
:02:10. > :02:12.then against capitalism in the shape of the Americans, Vietnam's is now
:02:13. > :02:26.one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. -- Vietnam. The Vietnamese
:02:27. > :02:29.have no inhibition about shopping the brand names of the erstwhile
:02:30. > :02:35.enemy. The wealthy classes you spent $50 billion on luxury goods last
:02:36. > :02:45.year. One of the most sought after at luxury goods in Vietnam today is
:02:46. > :02:55.more expensive than gold. It is rhino horn. I've been official
:02:56. > :03:03.permission to report on the rhino horn trade here, and with an
:03:04. > :03:06.interpreter, I go looking for it on the traditional Chinese medicine
:03:07. > :03:11.Street, the best place, I am told, to buy rhino horn. Vietnam has
:03:12. > :03:16.signed up to the convention on international trade in endangered
:03:17. > :03:28.species. A poster here warns that trading Lorraine Hollande now
:03:29. > :03:36.illegal -- rhino horn is now. We don't have much luck. Do you have
:03:37. > :03:48.any rhino horn? Does anyone sell rhino horn here? That evening, I
:03:49. > :03:54.slip away from my mind" shopping with a hidden camera. I find the
:03:55. > :03:59.illegal traders have no such inhibitions, like the one directed
:04:00. > :04:19.to in the back of a terrorist shot. And how much are you charging? --
:04:20. > :04:20.Keillor -- tailor's shop. I tell the trader I am looking for a cancer
:04:21. > :04:43.cure for my husband. He tells me he has several of these
:04:44. > :04:47.horns in stock. They are from the Asian rhino, he says, which has been
:04:48. > :04:54.hunted out of existence in Vietnam's. I make my excuses and
:04:55. > :05:00.leave, explaining that it's out of price range. For centuries, people
:05:01. > :05:06.in Vietnam's other countries in Asia have believed in the power of the
:05:07. > :05:16.rhino horn, although biologists tell us it is made of the same material
:05:17. > :05:23.as the human fingernail. This is the horn? I was only in Vietnam's are
:05:24. > :05:26.few days, but when the word got around that I wanted to buy rhino
:05:27. > :05:32.horn, people contacted me, offering to sell. This time, the trader
:05:33. > :05:44.says, it from Africa. How do you know? He turns out to be
:05:45. > :05:46.particularly obliging, even coming up to my hotel room to show me how
:05:47. > :06:05.to prepare it. The essential item, he explains, is
:06:06. > :06:16.a ball with a corrugated surface on which to grind the horn. Then mix it
:06:17. > :06:19.with water or alcohol to drink. I go to the village outside Hanoi at
:06:20. > :06:27.renowned for ceramics, whether Balzer made. They are not on open
:06:28. > :06:38.display. We go through the back streets to find them. The woman at
:06:39. > :06:51.the wheel tells me that she makes on average 200 calls for grinding rhino
:06:52. > :07:00.horn a day. -- bowls. That is 60,000 a year from one pottery alone. In
:07:01. > :07:11.the nearby shop at the back, they are stacked high for future use.
:07:12. > :07:14.It's hard to estimate how many are sold or harmony people use rhino
:07:15. > :07:17.horn in Vietnam's, but it's enough to have a catastrophic in Africa. --
:07:18. > :07:34.Vietnam. This man is the director of Hanoi
:07:35. > :07:37.zoo. He says he had to go to South Africa to collect rhino to bring
:07:38. > :07:45.Vietnam's, to remind people what they've lost. The only reno to be
:07:46. > :07:54.found in Vietnam today is here and the Zune, and it the African white.
:07:55. > :07:56.-- zoo. He blames the misguided belief in the mystical power of the
:07:57. > :08:39.horns. But environmental organisations say
:08:40. > :08:42.that the poaching of hundreds of rhinos for their horns in Africa
:08:43. > :08:49.could also bring the white rhino to the point of extinction. Many people
:08:50. > :08:50.blame the Vietnamese appetite for the rhino worn for it like this in
:08:51. > :09:19.Africa. -- horn for scenes. So how did it happen that the
:09:20. > :09:28.Vietnamese are being blamed for a threatening the very survival of
:09:29. > :09:32.this majestic animal? Most of the rhinos in the wild live in South
:09:33. > :09:39.Africa today. Threatened with extinction 30 years ago, there made
:09:40. > :09:44.a recovery. Although the black rhino is still considered endangered and
:09:45. > :09:51.the white rhino remains on the threatened category. Nonetheless,
:09:52. > :09:58.rhino hunting is permitted under strict rules. Fewer than 100
:09:59. > :10:08.experienced hunters can apply for a permit every year to shoot just one
:10:09. > :10:14.Rino, and they are required to keep the horn in tact as a trophy. The
:10:15. > :10:17.argument is that hunting encourages privately owned rhino parks and
:10:18. > :10:21.therefore adds to rhino numbers. Permits costing tens of thousands of
:10:22. > :10:29.dollars contribute to the local economy. With no more rhino left to
:10:30. > :10:35.hunt in their own country, Vietnamese hunters started applying
:10:36. > :10:40.for South African term its ten years ago -- permits. By 2010, there were
:10:41. > :10:41.more Vietnamese applying to shoot a rhino in South Africa than any other
:10:42. > :11:08.nationality. Mr Dong, a wealthy businessman,
:11:09. > :11:12.joined a hunt in South Africa six years ago. Something he says he now
:11:13. > :11:18.regrets. He and his friends didn't know how to shoot. Mortally wounded,
:11:19. > :11:42.the rhino limped off. It took three days to find, ten kilometres away.
:11:43. > :11:56.So he took a long time to die? What happened up until then was legal.
:11:57. > :11:58.What followed was not. Although Mr Dong appeared quite happy to talk
:11:59. > :12:15.about it. How much money did the rhino horn
:12:16. > :12:41.make? And who was it sold to? Vietnamese hunters were killing the
:12:42. > :12:52.rhino for the horn and selling it illegally. When the Vietnamese had
:12:53. > :12:59.used their permits, non- Vietnamese, including Thai bargirls, were paid
:13:00. > :13:06.to fly to South Africa to as hunters and South African marksmen did the
:13:07. > :13:10.shooting, also against the laws. In a series of trials in South Africa,
:13:11. > :13:17.it became clear that Asian criminal gangs were involved. In 2012, South
:13:18. > :13:25.Africa refused to give any more permits to applicants from
:13:26. > :13:34.Vietnam's. -- Vietnam. The gangs have now turned from paying pseudo-
:13:35. > :13:38.hunters, to putting on a huge scale. In the two years since the ban on
:13:39. > :13:48.Vietnamese hunters, record numbers of rhino have been pushed in South
:13:49. > :13:51.Africa. Killed for their horn. Much of the data on rhino horn in Vietnam
:13:52. > :13:57.has been collected by the respected wildlife monitoring network,
:13:58. > :14:02.traffic, here in Hanoi. They fear the situation could get worse.
:14:03. > :14:08.Recently, they conducted a survey in which 60% of the people asked said
:14:09. > :14:11.they wanted to acquire rhino horn. What we found was an alarming number
:14:12. > :14:16.of people who are not currently consuming rhino horn, but if they
:14:17. > :14:23.had the economic ability, the money, the disposable income, they would
:14:24. > :14:27.and they would want to. And they have already decided that, even
:14:28. > :14:31.though they know perhaps that it's illegal or they are aware of the
:14:32. > :14:38.situation. They have already made a conscious decision. There is a
:14:39. > :14:45.market for it and for those who have the money, it's readily available.
:14:46. > :14:48.Some of the rhino horn being sold is fake and so, on my next unofficial
:14:49. > :14:56.shopping expedition, I ask for proof. This time, I say I'm looking
:14:57. > :15:02.for a hangover cure. Mr Winters me he is a traditional medicine
:15:03. > :15:15.Doctor. He offers me a big slice of rhino horn. The price is the same as
:15:16. > :15:25.before. How much does it cost? $6,000? He offers a list of
:15:26. > :15:38.complaints that rhino horn can apparently cure other than cancer.
:15:39. > :15:43.How come you can sell it openly? Is it legal to sell rhino horn in
:15:44. > :16:09.Vietnam? The hunting permit he shows me
:16:10. > :16:17.appears to be in order. White rhino horn from South Africa here. You
:16:18. > :16:23.said you could take two? It turns out it was a family affair. His wife
:16:24. > :16:28.went on the hunt with him and there is a picture of his eight-year-old
:16:29. > :16:37.son standing beside a dead rhino. And he shows me the permit to import
:16:38. > :16:42.the rhino horn, approved. There is a Convention on International trade in
:16:43. > :16:48.in dangerous PCs... Except that the rules clearly state that the hunting
:16:49. > :16:51.trophy, the rhino horn, must be kept intact, in the possession of the
:16:52. > :17:05.Hunter and not under any circumstances sold.
:17:06. > :17:08.A recent investigation by citing his into 14 permit holding Vietnamese
:17:09. > :17:17.Hunters revealed that only seven of them still had their trophy rhino
:17:18. > :17:21.horn intact. Back at Traffic, they despair at the lack of official
:17:22. > :17:30.disapproval. Why is so little Lynden Dunn? In Vietnam at the moment, this
:17:31. > :17:38.is high profit, low risk. You might get a slap on the wrist if you are
:17:39. > :17:45.caught. They have no more rhinos. They don't see the demand here as
:17:46. > :17:50.driving the problem? Can custom is not seize the rhino horn? They know
:17:51. > :17:54.they can do more. I have seen changes in the last 12 months. I
:17:55. > :17:59.think that the coroners, the smugglers, the networks that run
:18:00. > :18:04.this trade are always one step ahead of Customs. -- the couriers. They
:18:05. > :18:11.come up with new ways and new techniques to get the rhino horn
:18:12. > :18:17.into the country. There is a culture here based on centuries held beliefs
:18:18. > :18:27.that many outsiders find hard to comprehend. Consuming animal parts
:18:28. > :18:36.can produce startling results. At a restaurant, I'm offered a local
:18:37. > :18:42.delicacy. Freshly killed snake. Fellow diners are not so squeamish.
:18:43. > :18:49.The snake bile mixed with alcohol is dead from -- is good for the
:18:50. > :18:52.digester in and the blood, drunk while still warm, is good for
:18:53. > :19:04.improving the virility of men over 40. I did not stop for lunch. And
:19:05. > :19:13.then there are the non- so-called bear farms. -- Vietnam's so-called
:19:14. > :19:15.bear farms. Every six months, their bile is removed from the gallbladder
:19:16. > :19:43.with a tube. The bears OK, living in the cages?
:19:44. > :19:46.It would be wrong to suggest that everyone in Vietnam is comfortable
:19:47. > :19:57.with this sort of treatment of animals. The local campaigning group
:19:58. > :20:02.Education for Nature, have sent letters to hundreds of wealthy
:20:03. > :20:06.businessmen, who, they fear, look on rhino horn as a symbol of prestige.
:20:07. > :20:18.They have pleaded with them not to use it.
:20:19. > :20:22.They have transmitted shocking and graphic adverts on over half of the
:20:23. > :20:30.country past 50 television channels. We have blurred this
:20:31. > :20:41.picture of a rhinoceros is still alive after its horn and much of its
:20:42. > :20:45.face was cut off. The message is dramatic and uncompromising. We
:20:46. > :21:09.were, however, surprised by one complaint they received.
:21:10. > :21:19.Is there they will at the top to stamp out the trade? While I'm in
:21:20. > :21:24.Vietnam, I hear rumours that some of the country's most prominent
:21:25. > :21:27.politicians are using rhino horn. I have no way of following up on the
:21:28. > :21:44.rumour because no senior politician would talk to me. Five weeks
:21:45. > :21:48.earlier, from London, I had asked to speak with relevant members of the
:21:49. > :21:52.government is job I was told was to stamp out the illegal trade in rhino
:21:53. > :21:57.horn, but I'm informed none are available to see me. The only
:21:58. > :22:02.government official I'm allowed to talk to is the man responsible for
:22:03. > :22:07.getting the government to abide by the conventions on the international
:22:08. > :22:18.trade in indentured species. -- endangered. I put it to him that
:22:19. > :22:21.cite his had asked Vietnam to introduce new laws to stop hunters
:22:22. > :22:29.selling their rhino horn two years ago.
:22:30. > :23:02.People saving rhino horn trade in Vietnam is high profit and risk. The
:23:03. > :23:29.fines are not appropriate. Vietnam has been importing rhino
:23:30. > :23:34.horn for almost ten years, now. Can you put your hand on your heart and
:23:35. > :23:58.say that Vietnam is trying to stop the illegal trade in rhino horn?
:23:59. > :24:07.Clearly, it's not enough. In South Africa, they have published the
:24:08. > :24:11.figure for rhinos post last year -- poached last year. It is a 40%
:24:12. > :24:19.increase on last year and the highest figure ever recorded. This
:24:20. > :24:22.is an incredibly high increase in poaching and if it is maintained
:24:23. > :24:27.even at this rate without increasing, we will reach the
:24:28. > :24:32.tipping point for these animals. By the end of 2014, we will be in the
:24:33. > :24:38.negative in terms of deaths approaching outstripping births and
:24:39. > :24:42.the population will start to decline very quickly for rhinos. And some of
:24:43. > :24:49.them have already gone. The rhino in Vietnam is gone. Apart from those
:24:50. > :24:53.that are bought from Africa and put in zoos. I refuse to accept we could
:24:54. > :24:59.live in a world where my nephews and my niece will only see rhinos in a
:25:00. > :25:05.zoo. We have to stop thinking the way we have been thinking for so
:25:06. > :25:11.long as conservationists. It's not about conserving the animal, it is
:25:12. > :25:13.about changing people 's behaviour and their sense of responsibility,
:25:14. > :25:22.their sense of ownership of these animals. We live in a global world.
:25:23. > :25:30.And we are all responsible for the animals that inhabit that world with
:25:31. > :25:33.us, as far as I'm concerned. Enough rhino horn has been traded and
:25:34. > :25:40.consumed in Vietnam to sound the alarm bells of extinction for the
:25:41. > :25:46.African white rhino. Procrastination is no longer an option for the
:25:47. > :25:48.expert. Vietnam must take urgent action to put a stop to this bloody
:25:49. > :26:28.trade. Our latest winter storm is
:26:29. > :26:29.continuing to cause problems