Could South Africa's horn sale end rhino slaughter?

Decimated by illegal poaching, the endangered rhino has increasingly come under attack in recent years. In South Africa alone, some 480 rhinos have been killed since January, while last year there were 668 slaughters, a nearly 50% jump compared to 2011.

The alarming surge in rhino killings has been fueled by unsubstantiated beliefs in southeast Asia that their horns can treat all kinds of conditions, from hangovers to cancers. Buyers in countries such as Vietnam and China are willing to pay big sums for traditional cures and this has helped create a lucrative poaching market, which is often run by sophisticated criminal syndicates.