In an effort to curb poaching, a new initiative could see scientists inject non-toxic radioactive isotopes into the horns of rhinoceroses to make them unfit for human consumption, according to Interesting Engineering.
On June 25, the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, released the Rhisotope Project, a conservation initiative to prevent poaching and save countless rhinos.
Over 150 years ago, over a million rhinos called the African savannah their home. According to Helping Rhinos, European settlers began to hunt and poach rhinos. The rhino horn was viewed as a luxury, illegally traded for medicine, and coveted as a symbol of wealth. At the beginning of the 20th century, the world population of rhinos dropped to 500,000 in all of Africa and Asia. Poaching reached record highs in 2014 and 2015. Unfortunately, only 27,000 rhinos remain today, many in national parks, preserves, and zoos. While there is a slight decline in poaching, the illegal activity continues to exist across Africa.
"Every 20 hours in South Africa a rhino dies for its horn," said Professor James Larkin of the University of the Witwatersrand. "These poached horns are then trafficked across the world and used for traditional medicines, or as status symbols. This has led to their horns currently being the most valuable false commodity in the black-market trade, with a higher value even than gold, platinum, diamonds, and cocaine."
With three years of study, the Rhisotope Project has created a means of combating poaching. Expert veterinarians drilled radioisotopes into the horns of 20 rhinos while they were sedated and monitored. These radioisotopes, which are non-lethal to rhinos and their environments, contain enough radiation to be detected by monitors at international borders. Over a six-month period, these rhinos will be closely monitored to assess the viability of the initiative.
"Consuming products made from the horns will make them 'essentially poisonous for human consumption,'" said Nithaya Chetty, professor and dean of science at the University of the Witwatersrand, per Agence France-Presse and shared by France24.
But the primary objective of the project is to detect smuggling of rhino horns before they leave the country at airports, harbors, and land crossings. According to the University, there are over 11,000 radiation detection portal monitors throughout the world.
Conservation efforts for rhinos have seen small victories in recent years, including welcoming a new baby Sumatran rhino, one of only 50 in the world, and a new baby eastern black rhino in a region of only eight known in the species. With the Rhisotope Project, researchers can easily track rhinos, which play a crucial role in shaping the ecosystem of Africa, and help save them from poachers.
If successful, there are plans to expand the trials to other species, including elephants, pangolins, and other fauna and flora.
"This novel approach pioneered by Prof Larkin and his colleagues has the potential to eradicate the threat of extinction [of] our unique wild-life species, especially in South Africa and on the continent," said Professor Lynn Morris of the University of the Witwatersrand. "This is one of many projects at [Witwatersrand] that demonstrates research with impact, and which helps to address some of the local and global challenges of the 21st Century."
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