Johannesburg (AFP)
South African scientists are studying ways to inject radioactive material into rhino horns to make them easier to detect at border posts, a move to deter poaching, a nuclear science researcher said on Friday.
Poachers killed at least 249 rhinos in South Africa in the first six months of the year - 83 more than in the first half of 2020. Their horns are then illegally exported to Asia, where they are highly prized in for traditional and medicinal purposes.
Injecting a small amount of radioactive material into rhino horns could make it easier to detect them in smuggled markets, University of the Witwatersrand researcher James Larkin told a webinar by the World Nuclear Association.
More than 11,000 radiation detectors are installed in ports and airports around the world, he said, adding that border officials often have hand-held detectors that could also detect poached horns.
"We can radically increase the number of people capable of intercepting these horns (...) to repel the traffickers," Larkin said.
Two rhinos have already been injected with a non-radioactive isotope to ensure the material does not spread through their bodies and cause health problems for animals or humans.
Computer modeling will then determine the appropriate dose for rhinos.
A rhino head model will be built using a 3D printer to test doses before testing can be done on real rhinos.
The program, called "The Rhisotope Project", is supported by the Russian group Rosatom, as well as researchers based in the United States and Australia.
gs / sch / har / cl / ial /
1
© 2021 AFP