The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism (MEFT) has cautioned registered game dealers to stop importing live white rhinoceros from South Africa for re-export to non-range states.

These transactions, ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda says, undermine Namibia's domestic laws or those of other countries.

'What this means is that rhinos are exported to Namibia and exported to countries where they never existed or where they would find it difficult to survive, and this is a risky undertaking, especially for the survival of this species, which is the white rhino species."

Muyunda explained that South Africa has stricter domestic measures in place that do not allow the exporting of some wildlife species to certain countries; hence, the ministry will not allow Namibia to be used to sidestep that country's laws.

"We will not allow this country to be used to break South African laws. The importing of white rhinos from SA might disadvantage the farmers or game dealers in case they want to export white rhinos of Namibian origin."

While the ministry values and respects the relationship with registered game dealers, Muyunda stressed that the rule of law must be upheld.

The consequences of not observing the law may lead to international trade suspensions for Namibia because of non-compliance with the provisions of the CITES Convention.