Save the rhinos: Create a futures market for their horns and have the NY Fed short it

At $60,000 a Pound, Illegal Rhino Horn Declared More Valuable than Gold, Diamonds, and Cocaine

By Jennifer Harper
The Washington Times
Sunday, May 17, 2015

Could a human hankering for exotic elixirs, curatives, and aphrodisiacs turn rhino horn into a $20 billion-a-year industry and take out an entire species of animals at the same time?

Looks like it. A study from a team of international scientists says so -- saying the call for rhino horn and other substances derived from animal parts has "drastic implications" for rhinoceroses, along with elephants, hippopotamuses, and even gorillas.

"One of the critical factors behind the disturbing trend is the tremendous financial incentive for poachers to sell animal parts for consumer goods and food. For example, rhinoceros horn is more valuable by weight than gold, diamonds, or cocaine," says lead author William Ripple, an Oregon State University professor of ecology. The research appeared in Science Advances, an online academic journal.

The horn -- thought to have powers as a cure for cancer, an aphrodisiac, and a cure-all in some Asian nations -- currently goes for $60,000 a pound, the professor reports. There's some activity in the United States as well. An Iowa taxidermist recently pleaded guilty to selling two black rhino horns to a trafficker; he now faces up to five years of jail time. A similar fate awaits a Texas taxidermist who had participated in a rhino horn sale in March. ...

... For the remainder of the report:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/17/rhino-horn-considered-cu...