Radioactive Rhino Horns Stop Poaching
Date
6/29/2024 10:52:14 PM
(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Alimat Aliyeva
In South Africa, home to most of the world's rhino populations,
scientists have taken an innovative step in the fight against
poaching. They injected radioactive material into the horns of live
rhinos to make it easier to detect them at border posts,
Azernews reports.
This advanced project, designed to reduce illegal rhino
trapping, is aimed at reducing demand for horns in Asia, where they
are used in traditional medicine.
James Larkin, director of the Department of Radiation and
Medical Physics at the University of the Witwatersrand, who led the
initiative, told the media that he injected "two tiny radioactive
chips into the horn" of one of the rhinos. According to Larkin, the
radioactive material "will render the horn useless and practically
poisonous for human consumption."
Professor Nitaya Chetti, dean of the Faculty of Sciences at the
same university, added that the dose of radioactive material is so
small that it will have no effect on animal health or the
environment.
Despite the government's efforts to combat the illegal trade, in
February, South Africa's Ministry of Environment reported that 499
rhinos were killed in 2023, an 11 percent increase over 2022.
As part of the Rhisotope pilot project, twenty live rhinos will
receive a dose of radioactive material sufficient to trigger
detectors at international border posts established to prevent
nuclear terrorism.
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