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Once Illicit, Rhino Horn Sales Underway In South Africa

Protected rhinos roam and feed in an enclosed precinct at the Kahya Ndlovu Lodge on Sept. 25, 2016 in Hoedspruit, in the Limpopo province of South Africa. (Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images)
Protected rhinos roam and feed in an enclosed precinct at the Kahya Ndlovu Lodge on Sept. 25, 2016 in Hoedspruit, in the Limpopo province of South Africa. (Mujahid Safodien/AFP/Getty Images)

Selling rhino horn internationally has been illegal for 40 years. But it’s now legal to sell rhino horn within the borders of South Africa, the country with 80 percent of the world’s rhinos. A court there removed a moratorium on the domestic rhino horn trade earlier this year.

As NPR’s Peter Granitz (@pgranitz) reports from the capital, Pretoria, one rhino farmer in South Africa hopes to auction some of his stockpiled rhino horn — and the sale is not without controversy.

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