South Africa Arrests Ex-owner of World’s Largest Rhino Conservation Farm

South African police have arrested John Hume, the former owner of the world’s largest rhino conservation farm, on charges of trafficking rhino horns. Hume, in his mid-80s, was detained along with five others after a years-long investigation revealed nearly 1,000 horns were fraudulently sold under permits and shipped to Southeast Asia despite an international ban. Once home to 2,000 rhinos, Hume’s “Platinum Rhino” farm represented 15 percent of the world’s remaining wild southern white rhino population. The case underscores the global demand for rhino horns, which are worth as much as gold and used in Asia as status symbols or traditional medicine.