In a ground-breaking effort to stop poaching, South African scientists put radioactive material into live rhino horns on Tuesday to make them easier to see at border stations.
Since the bulk of rhinos worldwide reside in this nation, it is a hotspot for rhino poaching due to demand from Asia, where rhino horns are allegedly utilized for therapeutic purposes in traditional medicine.
A couple of the thick-skinned beasts browsed on the low grassland at the Limpopo rhino orphanage in the northeastern region of the country, near Waterberg.
Professor and dean of science at the same university Nithaya Chetty stated that the radioactive substance would “render the horn useless… essentially poisonous for human consumption.”
Larkin claimed that the dusty rhino, which had been put to sleep and was crouching on the ground, was painless.
He said that because the dose of the radioactive substance was so tiny, neither the environment nor the health of the animal would be impacted.
The environment ministry announced in February that 499 of the enormous mammals—mostly in state-run parks—were killed in 2023, despite official attempts to combat the illegal trade. Comparing this to the 2022 numbers, there has been an 11% increase.
A happy Larkin, wearing a green hat and a khaki shirt, announced that twenty live rhinos in total would be included in the pilot Rhisotope project. They would be given a dose “strong enough to set off detectors that are installed globally” at international border posts originally installed “to prevent nuclear terrorism”.
In addition to the thousands of radiation detectors placed at ports and airports, border officers frequently carry handheld radiation detectors that are capable of detecting contraband, according to the scientists.
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