Scientists have a new way to halt illegal poaching in South Africa: Turning rhino horns radioactive

Scientists have a new way to halt illegal poaching in South Africa: Turning rhino horns radioactive

Scientists have a new way to halt illegal poaching in South Africa: Turning rhino horns radioactive In 2024, approximately 420 rhinos were poached in South Africa. And over the last decade, an estimated 8,000 rhinos have been lost to poaching in Africa as a whole. Rhinos are critically endangered, and the sport of poaching them is part of an international web of criminal activity, in which poachers track and kill rhinos in protected areas and often smuggle their horns across borders to make money. Researchers are on a mission to end rhino poaching in South Africa. Photo courtesy of University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg While poaching statistics have been down in recent years, wildlife and conservation experts are continuing their efforts to end poaching for good. In Mokopane, South Africa, researchers at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg have launched the Rhisotope Project, an initiative that aims to disrupt the illegal rhino horn trade by making rhino horns radioactive. Don…