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Ecology & Environment
Mahesh

04/08/25 09:41 AM IST

New Project to curb rhino poaching through radioactive isotope injections

In News 
  • A South African university launched an anti-poaching campaign  with a unique approach – injecting radioactive isotopes into rhino horns. 
Working of Isotope Tagging 
  • According to the IAEA, radioactive isotopes or radioisotopes are the unstable form of an element that emit radiation to transform into a more stable form.
  • The radiation can be traced, and typically causes changes in the substance it falls upon.
  • Through a non-invasive procedure, rhino horns are tagged with low doses of radioactive isotopes, allowing for their ready detection by radiation portal monitors (RPMs) already deployed at borders, ports, and airports worldwide to identify unauthorised nuclear materials.
  • To test this system, the researchers used 3D-printed rhino horns with identical shielding properties to real keratin, which is the substance that makes up rhino horn.
  • According to the university, the tests confirmed that individual horns could be detected inside full 40-foot shipping containers.
Rhisotope Project
  • The Rhisotope Project commenced in 2021 and involves administering measured quantities of radioisotopes into the horns of live rhinos.
  • Under the project "two tiny little radioactive chips" were inserted into the horn of a rhinoceros.
  • The radioisotopes make the horn "useless" and "poisonous for human consumption."
  • The project's final phase includes aftercare and follow-up blood samples to ensure the animals are protected, with the radioactive material lasting five years on the horn, proving more cost-effective than dehorning every 18 months.
  • This project aims to use nuclear science in a novel way for conservation.
  • This non-lethal yet powerful solution aims to radically reduce the demand from end-users and save rhinos from the very real threat of extinction.
Poaching crisis 
  • According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global rhino population was estimated to be about 500,000 at the start of the 20th century.
  • It has since dwindled to 27,000, owing to the burgeoning demand for rhino horns. These horns are trafficked to Asian markets where they are used in traditional medicine, and also as as a status symbol.
  • South Africa, home to the world’s largest rhino population, had lost over 10,000 rhinos to poaching over the last decade, with 103 losses reported by the South African Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in the first quarter of this year.
  • While the project itself is not a cure-all or silver bullet to curb poaching, the researchers hope it will prove to be a great deterrent.
  • It would certainly prove to be less disruptive to rhino behaviour compared to dehorning, in which rhinos’ horns are removed to deter poaching. 
  •  Dehorning rhinos reduced poaching by 78 per cent over seven years on eight reserves, another study the previous year established that this measure impacted their ability to socialise with their peers and noted reductions in the sizes of their home ranges.
Source- Indian Express 

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