MBOMBELA – The world’s largest rhino horn auction has closed.

The 48-hour online auction, where 264 rhino horns belonging to John Hume were put up for sale, caused much controversy with the Department of Environmental Affairs and a number of conservation groups opposing it.

Lawyer acting for Hume, Izak du Toit, told Lowvelder that they would not be making any information about buyers public.

He added that they would consider sharing information about the number of horns sold and the prices they fetched next week.

Buy your rhino horns here, August 23, 13:00

MBOMBELA – Buyers interested in obtaining legal rhino horns in John Hume’s online auction today at 14:00, will need to cough up R100 000 refundable registration fee to register, and will also need approved permits to participate in the largest legal sale of rhino horns to date.

The auction will run for 48 hours after which the carious lots will close for bidding.

According to the auction website, John Hume is the world’s largest private rhino owner and currently breeds and protects over 1500 rhinos. The reason for the auction is part of Hume’s desperate attempt to find a way to encourage people to keep breeding and protecting these animals, despite the immense risk of armed incursions that rhino owners face every day.

The auction has sparked widespread controversy and debate over how the legal sale of rhino horns will impact on the rhino poaching problem in Southern Africa.

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