South African rhino horns have become radioactive to fight poachers

South African scientists have launched an anti -racication campaign in which rhino horns will be injected with radioactive equipment.

The group, from the University of Witwatersrand, said that the process was harmless to rhinoceros but will allow customs agents to detect smuggling horns when they are transported around the world.

South Africa has the largest rhino population in the world, and hundreds of animals are pointed there every year.

The university company, called the Rhisotope project, cost around £ 220,000 ($ 290,000) and involved six years of research and tests.

“At least one animal per day is still poached,” said James Larkin, a WITS university professor involved in the project, at the BBC.

“I think that the figures will only go in a direction if we are not careful … It is an important tool to help reduce the number of poaching, because we are proactive rather than reactive.”

Professor Larkin added that the pilot study, which involved 20 rhinos, confirmed that radioactive material was “completely safe” for animals.

Researchers at Wits University, who collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency, found that horns could even be detected in 40 -foot shipping containers (six meters).

Jamie Joseph, an eminent activist of South African rhinos, said that the rhisotope project was “innovative and very necessary”.

“This is not the end of the game – only better legislation and a political will can end the rhino crisis. But it will certainly help disturb the flow of horns leaving the country and help experts better trace illegal channels by providing reliable data,” said Joseph, director of the safeguarding of the Wild charity.

Each year since 2021, more than 400 rhinos have been poache in South Africa, said charity of the Save the Rhino conservation.

Jessica Babich, chief of the Rhisotope project, said: “Our goal is to deploy rhisotopes technology on a large scale to help protect one of the most emblematic and threatened species in Africa.”

“In doing so, we protect not only rhinos but a vital part of our natural heritage.”

The horns of African rhinos are often exported to the Asian markets where they are used in traditional medicine and also considered as a symbol of status.

White rhinos are considered threatened, while black rhinos are in danger criticizing.