Rhinos now have radioactive horns to fight off poachers
Scientists are making rhino horns radioactive in a scheme to combat poachers.
The initiative in South Africa, which involves injecting radioactive material into horns, will both enable them to be tracked and make the prized objects less desirable to poachers.
Under the Rhisotope Project, rhinos are sedated during the procedure before a small amount of radioisotopes is inserted into a hole drilled into their horns.
A pilot phase in June 2024 saw 20 rhinos successfully injected with the radioactive material, which will allow authorities to trace illegal trade with the use of existing nuclear security infrastructure.
Making horns radioactive will also make them a liability to those who wish to smuggle them overseas, as the metal will set off detectors at ports and airports.
James Larkin, Director of the Radiation and Health Physics Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand said that the process would make rhino horns unsuitable for sale globally.
'No one wants a radioactive horn', he said.
Arrie Van Deventer, founder and director of the rhino orphanage, said that the scheme could be a 'holy grail' for the species.
'It is wonderful, I am telling you, this could be the holy grail to save the species', he said.
Around 500 rhinos are killed for their horns each year in South Africa, home to 80 per cent of the world's population.
A total of 105 were killed in the first quarter of 2025 alone, the ministry of forestry, fisheries and the environment said.
Poachers sell horns to traffickers who in turn send them to lucrative overseas markets, including China and Vietnam.
A typical rhino horn can be sold for more than its weight in gold at $60,000 per kilogram.
The global rhino horn black market is now worth an estimated $20billion. More Trending
The use of nuclear technology could also be used to help protect other endangered species, including elephants and pangolins.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said: 'Radiation portal monitors were not initially envisioned as rhino savers.
'They are a cornerstone of nuclear security detection infrastructure… The Rhisotope Project means this technology will now also help combat illicit wildlife trafficking.'
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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Scientists turn rhino horns 'radioactive' to help tackle poaching
Conservationists in South Africa have launched an unusual new campaign, which they hope will stop the poaching of have begun injecting the animals' horns with a radioactive material. The process is safe and harmless to the rhinos, but will allow authorities to detect smuggled horns as they're transported around the world. Last year experts trialed the project, which proved to be so successful that it has now been rolled out to include more rhinos in the country. How does the process work? The process has been developed by scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Called the Rhisotope Project, it involved six years of research and testing to make sure it was safe and harmless to the order to carry out the procedure, the rhino is put to sleep, so it doesn't feel any then injects two tiny little radioactive chips into the to the team, the dose is low enough that it does not impact the animal's health or the environment in any it is hoped that it can help stop poaching as the dose means the horn can't be consumed by radiation is also "strong enough to set off detectors that are installed globally" at international border if a poacher tries to transport a horn with the radioactive chip in it, it can be Babich, head of the Rhisotope Project, explained why helping the animals means so much to the team. She said: "Our goal is to deploy the Rhisotope technology at scale to help protect one of Africa's most iconic and threatened species."By doing so, we safeguard not just rhinos but a vital part of our natural heritage," Babich added. How big of a problem is rhino poaching? Poachers can get a lot of money for horns on the black market where the price by weight rivals that of Africa has the largest rhino population in the world, and hundreds of the animals are poached there every to conservation charity Save the Rhino, each year since 2021, more than 400 rhinos have been poached in the horns of African rhinos are often exported to places such as Asia, were they are used in traditional medicine and also seen as a status are two different species of African rhino - white rhinos and black rhinos are considered threatened, while black rhinos are critically endangered.
