Africa’s rhinos are in trouble. Poachers are illegally killing the animals for their horns, which are then sold in countries like China and Vietnam. James Larkin, a conservationist in South Africa, is trying to change this using an unlikely tool: radioactive pellets that release high-energy particles and waves.
Larkin’s team at the University of the Witwatersrand carefully drilled holes into the horns of 20 rhinos in South Africa. They then inserted the radioactive pellets. The pellets give off a low level of radiation that’s harmless to the animals but detectable by scanners used at border crossings. If poachers try to smuggle these horns out of the country, they’ll be arrested.
Knowing they’ll be caught will hopefully discourage poachers from going after the animals. “This is an opportunity to save an iconic African species,” says Larkin. If this project is successful, Larkin plans to use a similar method to protect other endangered species targeted by poachers, like elephants and pangolins.