Museums warned they are easy target for rhino-horn thieves
Merseyside Maritime Museum displays replica horn amid security concerns
Museums have been warned that they are seen as easy targets for criminal gangs looking to steal rhino horn.
The commercial value of rhino horn has soared in recent years fuelled by demand from Asia where it is used in traditional medicines to cure cancer.
This has led to a rise in the illegal poaching of rhinos in the wild and zoos. There have also been more than 20 thefts of rhino horns from museums and auction houses across the UK and Europe in the past year, including a nature museum in Paris where stun gas was used to disable guards.
Marc Granville, of the UKBA border crime team, told Museums Journal that as zoos and safari parks ramp up their security to protect live animals, museums present a “soft touch” option for criminals.
“Raiding a museum for horn is a cheaper and easier option that going on safari,” he added.
Vernon Rapley, head of security and visitor services at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London and the former head of Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques Unit, said most museums have good security measures in place and have responded well to the threat posed by rhino-horn thieves.
“The V&A and other museums have removed rhino horn from display on a semi-permanent basis, and are being vigilant about enquiries,” he added. “The use of violence [by criminal gangs] means we’ve got to protect staff and it’s not worth the risk of putting horn on display.”
Rapley, who also leads the National Museum Security Group, said that threats to specific objects do tend to come and go, and that the V&A was actively monitoring the risks around rhino horn.
REPLICA HORNS
Security fears have prompted the Merseyside Maritime Museum to display replica rhino horn in a new exhibition highlighting the growing illegal trade in rhinoceros horn.
Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered tells the story of a set of white rhino horns that were intercepted by Border Agency officers at Manchester Airport in 2010.
An intensive investigation revealed that the horns had been removed from a rhino called Simba who had died from natural causes at Colchester Zoo.
Although the zoo had legally disposed of Simba’s body for cremation, the horns were removed and passed to an antique dealer who was caught and later jailed for 12 months.
Karen Bradbury, curator of Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum, said: “It’s unusual for a museum to not put something on show. But there are very real fears about the museum becoming a target for criminals. We are therefore heeding advice to not put real horns in the gallery.”
The commercial value of rhino horn has soared in recent years fuelled by demand from Asia where it is used in traditional medicines to cure cancer.
This has led to a rise in the illegal poaching of rhinos in the wild and zoos. There have also been more than 20 thefts of rhino horns from museums and auction houses across the UK and Europe in the past year, including a nature museum in Paris where stun gas was used to disable guards.
Marc Granville, of the UKBA border crime team, told Museums Journal that as zoos and safari parks ramp up their security to protect live animals, museums present a “soft touch” option for criminals.
“Raiding a museum for horn is a cheaper and easier option that going on safari,” he added.
Vernon Rapley, head of security and visitor services at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London and the former head of Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques Unit, said most museums have good security measures in place and have responded well to the threat posed by rhino-horn thieves.
“The V&A and other museums have removed rhino horn from display on a semi-permanent basis, and are being vigilant about enquiries,” he added. “The use of violence [by criminal gangs] means we’ve got to protect staff and it’s not worth the risk of putting horn on display.”
Rapley, who also leads the National Museum Security Group, said that threats to specific objects do tend to come and go, and that the V&A was actively monitoring the risks around rhino horn.
REPLICA HORNS
Security fears have prompted the Merseyside Maritime Museum to display replica rhino horn in a new exhibition highlighting the growing illegal trade in rhinoceros horn.
Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered tells the story of a set of white rhino horns that were intercepted by Border Agency officers at Manchester Airport in 2010.
An intensive investigation revealed that the horns had been removed from a rhino called Simba who had died from natural causes at Colchester Zoo.
Although the zoo had legally disposed of Simba’s body for cremation, the horns were removed and passed to an antique dealer who was caught and later jailed for 12 months.
Karen Bradbury, curator of Seized! The Border and Customs Uncovered gallery at Merseyside Maritime Museum, said: “It’s unusual for a museum to not put something on show. But there are very real fears about the museum becoming a target for criminals. We are therefore heeding advice to not put real horns in the gallery.”