Why Radioactive Rhino Horns Are Being Used to Stop Poaching

Researchers are injecting live rhino horns with radioactive material.

Professor James Larkin from Wits University and Suzanne Boswell believe they can disrupt the highly lucrative, global black market for rhino horns. They founded the Rhisotope Project in 2021 to insert small radioactive chips into still-attached rhino horns. Sure, it sounds crazy. But radioactive rhino horns might be crazy enough to curb poaching and save these fragile populations. Doing so could also hinder international criminal syndicates.

On the Brink

Of the 5 rhino species, 3 are critically endangered. The major threats are habitat loss and poaching.

Once living across large swaths of southeast Asia, the Sumatran rhino’s habitat has been reduced to only a handful of small, protected areas on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. The last member of the species living on the mainland died in Malaysia in 2019. Today, there are less than 50 Sumatran rhinos in existence, though accurate estimates are difficult to obtain. With such low numbers, the species’ continued survival is far from certain.

Black rhinos are doing a bit better, though they are still on the brink. In the 1960s, there were estimated to be around 100,000 of them living primarily in southern Africa. However, they experienced an alarming 80% decline in the 70s and 80s. By the early 90s, their numbers reached an all-time low of around 2,500. Today, thanks to conservation efforts, researchers put their numbers at roughly 6,000.

In a similar story, the Javan rhino historically thrived across southeast Asia. But after the last one in Vietnam died in 2010, they now only exist in small areas of Indonesia. Since the 1960s, their numbers have increased from 25 to 76, an amount not anywhere near large enough for researchers to be confident about their future.

The White rhino is a mixed bag. The Southern White population has gone from a measly 20 in 1895 to a robust 21,000 in 2012. However, this declined a bit to 16,000 over the following decade. For many researchers and activists, the comeback of the Southern White rhino is a much-needed success story, demonstrating the need for more conservation efforts. The Northern White rhino’s story, though, is anything but a success. Their population went from around 2,200 in the 1960s to 2 in 2021. The remaining 2 are named Najin and Fatu, both females. Sudan, the last male, died in Kenya in 2018. Scientists want to use creative methods to breed the remaining females, such as hybrid embryos made with the help of Southern White males.

The only other success story is that of the Indian rhino. Also called the Greater One-Horned Rhino, they used to be prevalent in Pakistan, Nepal, and India, though they are now only found in small sections of India. It’s estimated that their population went from 40 in the 1960s to 4,000 today, a 100-fold increase.

Though habitat loss has played a significant role in the decline of these populations, poaching is considered a much larger threat. According to Save the Rhino International, nearly 500 rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2022. Poachers target large national parks like Kruger and Hluhluwe-iMfolozi due to their immense size and the large number of rhinos living within. 79% of the planet’s rhinos live in South Africa, making it the center of the fight against poaching, a fight some researchers don’t believe is winnable.

The Black Market

Why is poaching so difficult to stop? The same reason drugs, human trafficking, illegal arms, etc. are difficult to stop: vast sums of money. The total global black market is valued in the trillions of dollars. Rhino horn alone might be around $100 million per year. According to the Wildlife Justice Commission, “the overall gross illicit income generated by the trade of raw rhino horns at the wholesale level during the 10 years from 2012-2021 is estimated to be between USD 874 million – 1.13 billion.” Though prices fluctuate heavily depending on the year and location, the price of rhino horn has reached up to $65,000 per kilo.

So poachers who sneak into national parks like Kruger, remove rhino horns, and sell them on the black market can earn life-changing money. In fact, many poachers are impoverished and rely on poaching. In a 2017 study, researchers interviewed 173 self-admitted poachers living on the edge of Ruaha National Park in Tanzania. They found that the majority of poachers are “strongly motivated by the need to improve their incomes.” Such money is too much for some to ignore.

Once the rhino horn has entered the black market, it is primarily sold to buyers in China and Vietnam. There it is turned into powders, pills, and tonics, and ingested by the wealthy. Why? Some believe it has medical benefits like treating strokes and nosebleeds. Some believe it increases virility. Others just use it as a status symbol. Rhino horn is made of keratin and has no known medical benefits. Ingesting it has the same benefits as eating your nails and hair.

Attempts at undermining the rhino horn black market have so far been unsuccessful. In 2011, two Vietnamese American brothers founded Rhinoceros Horn LLC to create lab-grown keratin that would pass for rhino horns. Around the same time, the founders of Ceratotech wanted to do the same with stem cells. A few years later, the founders of Pembient tried reprogramming yeast cells. If these products were accepted by consumers, the price of the real thing would feasibly drop to the point that poaching would no longer be worth the risk.

However, such attempts sparked a still ongoing controversy. Conservationists argued that these products would create more demand for rhino horns. Instead of disrupting the market, synthetic products would bolster it. On the other hand, researchers like economics professor Fred Chen believe these products might be a valuable tool.

To make matters worse for these companies, many rhino horn consumers demand the real thing. One researcher from Iceland interviewed 1000 consumers and found that many of them have considered buying DNA tests to confirm their product’s authenticity. So these ideas are unlikely to move forward.

Another idea is horn-trimming. Conservationists capture and sedate the rhinos before removing their horns safely and humanely. Doing so deters poachers from killing the rhinos, and rhinos regrow their horns every 2 to 3 years on average. Again, this has created a raucous. Some believe it is unnatural and alters rhino behavior. Others believe it is a highly effective poaching deterrent. Since it was first done in Namibia in 1989, the practice has remained highly controversial.

Therefore, conservationists have long waited for an effective idea to take down the rhino horn black market.

Radioactive Rhino Horns

The idea is simple: drill tiny holes into still-attached rhino horns, hammer radioactive chips in, and spray thousands of microdots on the outside for further identification.

Seriously? Yup. One benefit is that the end product becomes dangerous to consumers. With fear of ingesting radioactive material, many rhino horn enthusiasts would likely think twice about doing so. Another benefit is that international borders are equipped with radiation detectors. These are primarily used to help control the trafficking of radioactive materials, and they would certainly be able to detect radioactive rhino horns. Smugglers could theoretically be caught and charged under anti-terrorism laws.

What about the rhinos? Researchers used CT scans to create a 3D model of a rhino head. Detectors were placed throughout, and large amounts of data were collected. With the help of computer models, an appropriate amount of radioactive material was determined. James Larkin said that he “realized we could probably find that sweet spot where the dose was small enough to not harm the animal, but big enough to set off a detector.”

Their pilot project is already underway. 20 rhinos have successfully received the radioactive material. They will receive regular monitoring and blood analysis to ensure their safety.

Who Cares?

“It’s all about science saving rhinos, rhinos saving people, and people saving rhinos — a beautiful trilogy of possibility and success,” Jessica Babich

It’s about far more than saving rhinos.

It’s about saving ecosystems. Global ecosystems are on the verge of collapse due primarily to human activity. As one of the “keystone species,” rhinos play several important roles in maintaining healthy ecosystems. For example, they create and preserve watering holes by wallowing in mud. This allows water to accumulate and other species to thrive. Wallowing also helps distribute fertile soil. According to researchers at Stellenbosch University, “the fertile alluvial soil that accumulates in dams and natural waterholes is distributed far and wide, enriching the soil far from the wallow.” Rhinos also eat more than 50kg of plants per day. This results in them depositing some 20kg of dung over large areas. This dung is home to numerous insect species, is essential for spreading nutrients, and is a useful food source for various bird species. Their voracious appetite also clears large grassland areas, which several plant species rely on to thrive. “White rhinos mow the grass to a height that provides suitable habitat for these species.” So without rhinos, the ecosystem gets pushed closer to collapse.

Saving rhinos is also about saving the economy. Ecotourism is a substantial part of Africa’s economy and future growth. One analysis found that rhino poaching in African parks caused a drop between €205.76 million and €230.76 million in tourism income between 2006 and 2014. If rhinos or one of the other “big five” species were to disappear, tourism income could drop an estimated 20%. For countries like Tanzania, this could be devastating, as “Tourism accounts for approximately 27% of the GDP and 80% of its foreign exchange earnings.”

Lastly, international crime syndicates are partly fueled by rhino horns. These organizations use the proceeds to continue other illegal activities like human trafficking, bribery and corruption, illegal weapons and drug trafficking, etc. All of these, of course, are detrimental to human society and result in the death of countless people. By stopping rhino poaching, these organizations would have less power to destroy lives.

With the above in mind, the Rhisotope Project is moving forward. They’ve partnered with Colorado State University, the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization, and numerous other organizations and people. Hopefully, radioactive rhino horns will not only save fragile rhino populations but benefit ecosystems and humanity as well.