Rhino horns were injected with radioactive materials to reduce their poaching in South Africa

 

South African scientists are injecting radioactive material into the horns of a live group of rhinos to render them unusable, make them more detectable at borders, and reduce the hunting that is destroying the numbers of this protected species.

South Africa is home to about 80% of the world's white rhino population, estimated at less than 13,000. But the country has become a hotspot for illegal hunting, driven by Asian demand for the horns, which are used in traditional medicine for their healing properties.

At a secret rhino sanctuary in Limpopo province in the country's northeast, which houses mostly young rhinos deprived of their mothers after they are killed in illegal hunts, a few thick-skinned herbivores graze on the savannah plain.

James Larkin, a researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand who is leading the initiative, placed "two small radioactive segments in the horn" of a one-year-old rhino calf weighing nearly half a ton.

Nithaya Chetty, dean of the Faculty of Science at the same university, says the radioactive material "renders the century useless and toxic for human consumption.

Larkin explains that the sleeping rhino, which was fixed in a squatting position, felt no pain, and that the dose of radioactive material is so low that it has no effect on the animal's health or the environment.

In February, the government announced that 499 rhinos would be killed in 2023, most of them in national parks, despite efforts to curb the illegal activity. This figure represents an 11% increase on the number of rhinos lost since 2022.

Twenty rhinos are participating in the "Resotop" experimental project, and these animals will receive a dose that is "strong enough to be monitored by specialized equipment around the world," according to Larsen.

Scientists point out that border security personnel are often equipped with manual radiation monitors, in addition to the thousands of monitors installed at ports and airports.

On the black market, the price of pods by weight rivals that of gold or cocaine.

Arie van Deventer, founder of the sanctuary that houses young rhinos, points out that removing rhino horns, a common practice in the country, and poisoning those horns has not deterred poachers.

"This technology could potentially put an end to poaching," the conservationist enthuses. "It's the best idea I've ever heard."

Wildebeest, warthogs and giraffes roam the vast sanctuary as the team performs a meticulous operation on another rhino.

Larkin carefully makes a small hole in the horn, then inserts the radioactive materials and finishes the process by spraying 11,000 fine dots over the entire horn.

Project manager Jessica Babich points out that the final stage of the project is to treat the animal according to an "appropriate scientific and ethical protocol.

The team will then take blood samples to ensure the animals are protected.

Larkin explains that the material will remain on each treated antler for five years, which is less expensive than removing the antler every 18 months.