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The rhinoceros bull »Igor« lives on a reserve in South Africa.
To protect him, researchers want to inject a radioactive substance into his horn.
Photo: Jessica Shuttleworth / University of the Witwatersrand / dpa
The completely unsubstantiated belief in the healing properties of the African rhinoceros has become a deadly danger for the animals themselves: poachers hunt and slaughter the animals in order to sell the valuable horn illegally.
Last year almost 400 of the colossi were shot in South Africa, where around 90 percent of all rhinos live.
Almost 10,000 animals are said to have been killed in the last ten years.
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A group of researchers, experts and animal rights activists now want to put a stop to poaching with a new project - with the help of radioactive substances.
The idea: You inject a small amount of radiating material into the horn of an animal, but this does not affect the animal's health.
The radioactivity should be sufficiently strong that it can be detected and displayed with measuring devices at ports, airports or customs stations.
It would no longer be possible for smugglers to get the horns out of the country undetected.
Can radioactivity deter smugglers?
The international research project “Project Rhisotope” has been running since the middle of the month.
The two rhinoceros bulls "Igor" and "Denver" serve as test subjects.
First, the scientists examine how substances are distributed in the horn in the first place.
To do this, they point a special amino acid into the horn of the two animals.
This amino acid does not yet contain any radioactive substances, but rather carbon and nitrogen atoms.
Computer simulations should help to understand how the substance is distributed.
Later, a very small amount of a radioactive substance should be added.
"It's a very unusual approach: we're trying to reduce the value of the horn and at the same time make smuggling more difficult," says James Larkin from Johannesburg's Witwatersrand University.
In September, the process should be fully developed - and in the best case scenario, be available to rhino owners and protectors.
However, not all animal welfare organizations share the enthusiasm of the project team.
From the organization Pro Wildlife it is said: "There were already years ago attempts and announcements to make the rhinoceros horn worthless or inedible through color or even poison, which were unsuccessful and could not stop poaching." Radioactivity is even if it is would be used in small quantities, very questionable from a health and nature conservation point of view.
A partner in the project: the Russian Atomic Energy Agency
The French environmental organization Robin des Bois has expressed concerns in another direction: Rosatom, Russia's state agency for atomic energy, is a supporter of the "Rhisotope Project".
The animal rights activists fear that the Russian authorities could try this way to expand their influence in Africa.
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Other partners are the Australian Organization for Nuclear Science and Technology, Colorado State University from the USA and the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation.
The trade in rhinoceros horns is banned, but the illegal sale is still a lucrative business for smugglers: According to estimates by the United Nations, horns worth around $ 230 million are sold each year.
In some countries in Asia, the material is as expensive as gold.