Germany: Epidemic of rhino robberies
This year alone, robbers have stolen rhinoceros horns from museums, antiques stores, and even private collections in at least eight European countries, said Stefan Ulrich at Süddeutsche Zeit.
Stefan Ulrich
Süddeutsche Zeit
Forget gold, said Stefan Ulrich. Today’s sophisticated thieves are trafficking in rhinoceros horns, which can fetch up to $300,000 each. The horns are ground down and sold to the Asian market, where rhino-horn powder is believed to cure everything from migraines to cancer, but is most often marketed to treat male impotence. This year alone, robbers have stolen rhinoceros horns from museums, antiques stores, and even private collections in at least eight European countries.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Some of the holdups are “like something right out of a Hollywood heist movie.” Just last week, in France, where most of the robberies have occurred, bandits burst into a Paris nature museum, sprayed tear gas at the guards, grabbed a white-rhino horn out of a display, and sped off in a getaway car.
Now that European museums have been picked nearly clean, zookeepers fear that the gang will start targeting their animals, killing them for their horns. Perhaps they should fight back by telling Asian customers the truth: Rhino horn is made of keratin, just like human hair and fingernails. If you’re eating rhino powder for your libido, “you’d do just as well to bite your nails.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Colleges are canceling affinity graduations amid DEI attacks but students are pressing on
In the Spotlight The commencement at Harvard University was in the news, but other colleges are also taking action
-
When did computer passwords become a thing?
The Explainer People have been racking their brains for good codes for longer than you might think
-
What to know before 'buying the dip'
the explainer Purchasing a stock once it has fallen in value can pay off — or cost you big
-
Turkey: Banning Twitter doesn’t work
feature In a fit of pique, Turkey’s prime minister moved to shut down public access to Twitter.
-
Ireland: Why nobody really loves Dublin
feature “Most of our citizens can’t stand Dublin, and that includes many Dubliners.”
-
Italy: Can ‘Fonzie’ save the day?
feature This week Italians got their third unelected prime minister since Silvio Berlusconi stepped down in 2011.
-
Italy: Convicting Amanda Knox with no evidence
feature An Italian appeals court reconvicted the young American student for the 2007 murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher.
-
France: A Gallic shrug at a sex scandal
feature Are the French finally showing interest in their leaders’ dalliances?
-
Belgium: Euthanasia for children
feature Should terminally ill children be allowed to end their lives?
-
World Trade Organization: Finally a global deal
feature The World Trade Organization has brokered a trade pact that should generate jobs and wealth around the world.
-
Greece: Surviving the winter without heat
feature How many Greeks will keel over this winter because they can’t pay their electricity bills?