21.   Rhino horn is prized in the Middle East for ceremonial dagger handles and, in crushed form, as a traditional medicine and aphrodisiac in Asia.

22.   Rhino horns are widely used in many east Asian countries as an aphrodisiac and in some African nations for medicines and ornaments.

23.   The controversy has further demoralized a department wracked by several years of infighting over the alleged involvement of senior political figures in poaching and smuggling ivory and rhino horn.

24.   The poachers were motivated by a dramatic expansion of the market for African rhino horns.

25.   Tiger bones, rhino horns and animal organs are in great demand in Asia and are used in traditional Chinese medicines for treating sexual problems.

26.   When ground into power, rhino horns are believed to be powerful aphrodisiacs, and they command high prices in the Far East.

27.   WWF said that the rhino horn was used to make highly sought-after handles of traditional daggers in Yemen.

28.   Ground rhino horn is reputed in East Asia to be a potent aphrodisiac, despite the endangered status of the species from which it comes.

29.   However, he denied giving approval to the smuggling of rhino horn.

30.   The United States is to remove Taiwan from a sanctions watchlist on illegal trade of endangered species, including rhino horn, the government said here Wednesday.