Thai man pleads guilty in rhino case

A Thai national accused of organising bogus trophy hunts to sell rhino horns on the international black market pleaded guilty in a South African court on Monday, local media reported. Chumlong Lemtongthai, who was allegedly part of a syndicate that paid prostitutes to pose as hunters, admitted to abusing the country's hunting permit system, Talk Radio 702's EyeWitness News reported. South Africa is facing an unprecedented wave of rhino killings with close to 500 animals slaughtered this year alone. Local media had reported that Chumlong would pay friends, strippers and prostitutes to pose as hunters and export the horns under trophy permits, of which a limited number are issued yearly. Charges against five of Lemtongthai's co-accused were dropped in the court east of Johannesburg, the news report said. The animals' distinctive horns are hacked off to be smuggled to the lucrative Asian black market, where the fingernail-like substance is falsely believed to have powerful healing properties.