Two game owners have won a legal battle against the government’s moratorium on the trade in rhino horn. John Hume‚ the biggest private rhino owner in South Africa who has a large stockpile of horns he has not been able to sell‚ and Johan Kruger argued that legalising the market is key to curbing the poaching crisis‚ in that selling ‘farmed’ horns could help combat the slaughter of rhino. They also said it was their constitutional right to earn a living and that the government’s moratorium should not be extended indefinitely‚ and that it had not achieved its purpose after being in existence for six years.The government had argued the ban was intended to stem the trafficking of rhino horn to international markets‚ and so indirectly reducing the demand for rhino horn products primarily in Asia where it is viewed as an aid to male potency and even as a cure for cancer.But Judge Frans Legodi in the Pretoria High Court‚ citing the “alarming” rise in poaching since the moratorium was introduced‚ said there was no evidence that it had achieved these aims. He also said he did not anticipate disastrous implications if the moratorium was lifted‚ with immediate effect. “The moratorium on the domestic trade in rhino horns is hereby reviewed and set aside‚” he said.The ruling could potentially pave the way for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to lift the global ban. A motion to legalise the trade would need a two-thirds majority vote from all 180 CITES nations to be passed.South Africa is home to an estimated 20‚000 rhino‚ which is 80% of the world population‚ but is struggling to combat poaching in its reserves - A rhino is killed for its horn every eight hours‚ on average...