This week five representatives from South Africa are in Vietnam to discuss ways to address the growing illegal trade in rhinoceros horn from South Africa to Vietnam.

The delegation represents key government departments involved in monitoring and enforcement in the rhino trade in South Africa.

Tranquilized rhino KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A radio transmitter was inserted into its horn for monitoring. [WWF]

They will meet with Vietnamese counterparts in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City to learn more about national policies and how cases of illegal horn trade are dealt with in Vietnam.

The aim of the trip, facilitated by TRAFFIC, a joint programme of WWF and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, is to increase collaborative law enforcement between the two nations in order to stop the illegal trade in rhino horn.

Rhino poaching crisis in South Africa

South Africa has lost nearly 230 rhinos so far this year, one rhino every 30 hours, the worst conservation crisis over the last two decades.

"It's vitally important to scale up Africa's law enforcement efforts and link with Asia in the fight to save the world's rhinos", says Tom Milliken, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in East and Southern Africa.

"We'll only win this war if both sides align against the criminal syndicates behind this trade."

This week's visit adds strength to the WWF Rhino campaign, initiated in September this year, to raise support and funding for those rangers who put their lives on the line to protect Africa's rhinos.

The visit also comes as world governments meet this week in Nagoya, Japan to discuss new targets to halt biodiversity loss as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Vietnam a high consumer of rhino horn

Vietnam has been increasingly implicated as a main driver of the illegal rhino horn trade in Asia, and a major trade route has emerged connecting illegally killed rhinos in South Africa with consumers in Vietnam.

In 2008, a Vietnamese diplomat working for the embassy in South Africa was filmed making an illegal purchase of rhino horn. In another incident, a Vietnamese man was sentenced in July 2010 to three years in prison for trying to smuggle five horns weighing 18 kg through Ho Chi Minh City's international airport.

Asian rhino most likely gone from Vietnam

While Asian rhinoceros have likely been extirpated in Vietnam, in part due to poaching for their horns, there are still important wild populations of rhinoceroses in Africa, especially South Africa where about 90% of all rhinos are found. Some ownership of rhino horns from trophy hunting is allowed, under strict regulations, but it is illegal to trade the horns commercially.

In Vietnam, the lack of a system to register and track privately-owned horns could be allowing them to enter the trade illegally.

Continued strong use in traditional medicine

Throughout parts of Asia, rhino horn is believed to cure a range of ailments, with some claims that it can cure cancer. In Vietnam, rhino horns (including fake horns) are being sold through traditional medicine stores, hospitals, and online sites.

The South Africa visit is being hosted by the Vietnam CITES Management Authority, with support from TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is the primary international agreement regulating the trade in wildlife.

The visit was made possible through the financial support of WWF-Germany, WWF African Rhino Programme and the US Government, who made a commitment to support such an initiative at the March meeting of CITES.