Scientists Inject Radioactive Material Into Live Rhino Horns Making Them Poisonous to Humans

Scientists successful South Africa are present injecting the horns of unrecorded rhinos with non-toxic radioactive isotopes to marque the horns unfit for quality depletion and let for easier tracking astatine planetary borderline crossings, according to a property merchandise from the University of the Witwatersrand successful Johannesburg.

Launched connected Tuesday by the university’s Radiation and Health Physics Unit (RHPU), the programme has been successful the works for respective years arsenic a mode to combat backmost against poachers who merchantability the horns, which are often smuggled retired of the state and utilized arsenic alternate medicine therapies.

Humorously dubbed the Rhisotope Project, debased doses of radioisotopes are being drilled into the horns of 20 sedated rhinos, whose wellness volition beryllium monitored for the adjacent six months. If successful, the programme could beryllium expanded to see elephants and pangolins, arsenic good different plants and animals, according to the university.

Consuming products made from the horns volition marque them “essentially poisonous for quality consumption,” arsenic 1 of the researchers told France’s AFP, but the superior extremity is really to place the smuggling efforts earlier they adjacent permission the country.

Most large airports and harbors, including those successful South Africa, already person the infrastructure to observe radioactive material, an effort to support them from atomic weapons. Theoretically, anyone trying to smuggle these now-radioactive horns would acceptable disconnected the alarms and instigate a precise superior constabulary response. But the scientists are speedy to constituent retired that the process isn’t harmful to the animals.

“Each insertion was intimately monitored by adept veterinarians and utmost attraction was taken to forestall immoderate harm to the animals,” Professor James Larkin who’s starring the project, said successful a property release. “Over months of probe and investigating we person besides ensured that the inserted radioisotopes clasp nary wellness oregon immoderate different hazard for the animals oregon those who attraction for them.”

Witwatersrand posted a video to YouTube showing the caller process the university’s squad has undertaken to combat backmost against poaching.

“Every 20 hours successful South Africa a rhino dies for its horn,” Larkin said. “These poached horns are past trafficked crossed the satellite and utilized for accepted medicines, oregon arsenic presumption symbols. This has led to their horns presently being the astir invaluable mendacious commodity successful the black-market trade, with a higher worth adjacent than gold, platinum, diamonds and cocaine.”

The International Rhino Foundation reports that 499 rhinos were killed successful South Africa successful 2023, an 11% alteration from 2022. There are an estimated 16,800 achromatic rhinos and 6,500 achromatic rhinos near successful the full world. South Africa unsocial has roughly 80% of the world’s achromatic rhinos and astir 30% of the world’s achromatic rhinos.