The recent arrest of prominent former rhino baron, John Hume, and five others for allegedly running a criminal racket that trafficked nearly 1,000 rhino horns from South Africa, has brought the fore the emotive debate about what should be done to the rhino horn stockpiles that have continued to grow since a ban on international rhino horn trade came into effect nearly five decades ago. Hume and his co-accused were arraigned before a South African court on August 19, 2025 for allegedly taking advantage of the loophole that local trade is legal in the country, to release 960 rhino horns from his vaults, using false information to make them appear like local sales. The debate pits conservationists on different sides of the isle. On one side is the no-trade lobby that is pushing for the destruction of these stockpiles, which they say give the misleading impression that there is value in the horn, thereby encouraging poaching. On the other side, there is the pro-trade people that insists that since lucrative markets exist for the rhino horns, they should be sold and the proceeds used to fund conservational efforts. Worse still, even those within each of these two camps do not agree on how their preferred side should go. Countries such as Kenya, Mozambique and India have in the past burnt their ivory and rhino horn stockpiles to demonstrate their commitment to end the trade. But most Africa countries have continued to keep their ivory and rhino horn stockpiles, hoping to influence the reopening of international trade in these products and make a windfall. The international ban on rhino horn trading has been in place since 1977, allowing for a steady growth in the stockpiles from natural deaths, de-horning exercises, trophy hunting and those confiscated from criminal syndicates. For countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and others with sizeable rhino populations, these stockpiles can be huge. In South Africa, where there is a huge game farming industry, rhinos, lions and other animals are reared on commercial basis, and the bulk of its 70,000 kg-plus rhino horn stockpile is in private hands. Some Asian countries have a market for rhino horn, reportedly fetching end prices of as high as $65,000 per kilogramme), since it is used as a status symbol, in traditional Chinese medicine and also as an aphrodisiac, despite any proven benefits.