Czech zoo burns rhino horns, condemns auction in SAfrica

A Czech zoo burned some 33.5 kilograms (74 pounds) of rhino horns with an estimated black market value of more than $2 million on Tuesday in a protest against a controversial rhino horn auction in South Africa.

About 33 kilograms of rhino horns are being burned at the zoo in Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. A zoo in the Czech Republic has burned its stockpiles of rhino horn worth more than US $ two million on the black market in a protest against a controversial auction of rhino horn in South Africa. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The Dvur Kralove Zoo, 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Prague, is home to 19 rhinos, the largest group of its kind in Europe. Dozens of visitors applauded Tuesday's ceremonial burning, which took place under the presence of heavily armed customs officials.

About 33 kilograms of rhino horns are being burned at the zoo in Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Earlier this year, the zoo removed the horns from some of their animals as a precaution to prevent criminals from stealing them for sale after assailants broke into a wildlife park near Paris in March, killing a rhino and stealing its horn.

A kilogram of rhino horn is sold for some $65,000 on the black market with rhino horns considered a cure in Asia for everything from cancer, colds and fevers to high blood pressure, hangovers, impotence and other ailments. Poachers have decimated rhino populations in Africa and elsewhere.

A custom officer stands on guard as about 33 kilograms of rhino horns are being burned at the zoo in Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Zoo director Premysl Rabas criticized the South African auction, which took place online in August. Another auction was planned for Wednesday.

He called "a huge mistake" a claim by the organizer that a legal trade in rhino horns will undercut poaching that has occurred at record levels in past years.

About 33 kilograms of rhino horns are being burned at the zoo in Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

"We won't stop the killing by legalizing the trade," Rabas said. "It only means it will spur demand."

A South African court ruling opened the way to a domestic trade in rhino horn, though South Africa says it remains party to an international ban in place since 1977.

About 33 kilograms of rhino horns are set on fire at the zoo in Dvur Kralove, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Richard Leakey, chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service and a renowned paleoanthropologist and conservationist who was at the Czech zoo Tuesday, said the burning is "one of the best things that a country can do."

"It sends a very, very clear message to African countries and I hope that South Africa is listening. Selling rhino horn makes no sense today," he said.

Countries and zoos around the world have been burning and destroying illegal wildlife products to send a message that such products cannot be traded and poaching animals for their horns must stop.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic’s central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate for the fourth straight time as inflation dropped and the economy showed signs of recovery.

The cut by a half-percentage point brought the interest rate down to 5.25%. The move was expected by analysts.

The bank started to trim borrowing costs by a quarter-point on Dec. 21, which marked the first cut since June 22, 2022. It continued with a cut by a half-percentage point on Feb. 8 and went on by another half-percentage cut on March 20.

Inflation declined to 10.7% in 2023 from 15.1% in 2022, according to the Czech Statistics Office, and dropped to 2.0% year-on-year in February, which equals the bank’s target, and remained unchanged at the same level in March.

The Czech economy was up by 0.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, and increased by 0.5% compared with the last three months of the previous year, the preliminary figures released by Statistics Office indicated on Tuesday.

That came after the Czech economy contracted by 0.2% in the last three months of 2023 compared with a year earlier.

The Czech bank’s decision comes as central banks around the world, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, are trying to judge whether toxic inflation has been tamed to the point that they can start cutting rates.

The European Central Bank left its key rate benchmarks unchanged at a record high of 4% in April, but signaled it could cut interest rates at its next meeting in June.

But the U.S. Federal Reserve emphasized earlier this week that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target.

FILE - A woman walks outside the Czech central bank in Prague, Czech Republic, on Nov. 2, 2023. On Thursday May 2, 2024, the Czech Republic's central bank cut its key interest rate for the fourth straight time amid falling inflation and signs of the economy's recovery. The cut by a half-percentage point brought the interest rate down to 5.25%. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)

FILE - People stand outside the Czech central bank in Prague, Czech Republic, on Nov. 2, 2023. On Thursday May 2, 2024, the Czech Republic's central bank cut its key interest rate for the fourth straight time amid falling inflation and signs of the economy's recovery. The cut by a half-percentage point brought the interest rate down to 5.25%. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)