Gunter - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only, not the actual rhino
The horns of live rhinoceroses in South Africa are being injected with non-toxic radioactive isotopes to deter poaching.
Radioactive rhino horns are unfit for human consumption, so consumer demand will decrease, and poachers will be less likely to hunt rhinos.
The injections are part of the Rhisotope Project, a South African organization dedicated to protecting rhinos.
The program has been in progress for several years to fight back against poachers. They often smuggle rhino horns out of the country, which are then used in alternative medicine treatments.
The incorporation of radioactive atoms into the rhinos’ horns will make them easier to track at international border crossings, according to James Larkin, the project leader and a professor at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. The radioisotopes can be identified with radiation-detection technology.
Most major airports and other ports of entry have the technology to detect radioactive material as a way to protect them from nuclear weapons.
If anyone tried to smuggle radioactive horns, they would trigger alarms, and police would respond immediately.
The University of Witwatersrand, Texas A&M University, Colorado State University, and the Rhisotope Project are working together to complete the project. Low doses of radioisotopes are being drilled into the horns of 20 sedated rhinos.
For the next six months, their health will be carefully scrutinized to make certain that the radioactive material does not harm them.
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