South African farmer to poison Rhino Horn

A South African farmer is testing injecting Cyanide into Rhino horn as a measure to stop the poaching of Rhino.
A couple of weeks ago an ATS member started a thread about a Rhino being tranquilised, having her horn removed using a chainsaw and then being left to die, her calf which had been with her at the time was also left to die, probably through starvation, the calf however was rescued and placed in a Rhino orphange!
The mother through some miracle actually survived her horrendous ordeal.
In one of my responses I suggested poisoning the horns and let the person who ingests the horn carry the consequences.
Yesterday and again this morning Sky News is carrying a report saying that a S.A. farmer is now in the process of injecting Cyanide into one of his Rhino's horns, while in quarantine to test whether this is a viable method of stopping the poaching of Rhino.
I believe that if were not for ATS this suggestion would never have been heard!
Good on ATS!

reply to post by wiser3


I feel sick sick sick, as I always do when I hear news from South Africa.

What is wrong with this man - let us inject him with poison and see what happens?

Sorry, I know you live there, but this country has gone beyond corruption.

reply to post by catwhoknows


He is trying to save the Rhino, they are testing whether the tiny amounts of cyanide injected into the horn will have any effect on the animal itself before they expand the process to other Rhino, his point being that if anyone ingest the poisoned Rhino Horn they will become either volently ill or die and this may stop the trade in this vile product.

reply to post by wiser3


People are still doing that?

OK, I am now completely crushed - and I apologize to that farmer.

reply to post by catwhoknows


Yes, even Supermodels are using powdered Rhino Horn as part of their "Beauty Regime", this is disgusting and people should stop!

eta. I probably didn't explain properly so no need for you to apologise!

[edit on 2/8/10 by wiser3]

Yep i keep on saying the media uses places like this for info.

Not sure of the positives and negatives of this story, but shows you.

reply to post by andy1033


Hey Andy, I agree, there may be negatives but just maybe this may be a way forward and if it does work and whoever is using this stuff gets to hear about this they will stop and then the poison wont be necessary any more!
One can only hope that something works before there are no Rhino left!

Hi wiser, I remember your comment on my thread - it was grim humour at the time, but quite interesting to hear that someone is attempting to do it.

I have a further suggestion - they should think about putting a tiny GPS transponder in the horn. Battery life might be a problem, but I think it is technologically feasible.
A google search revealed the following:

Only 66 millimeters long, the lightweight and waterproof A-GPS locator features real-time tracking capabilities through the Internet. WorldTracker Enduro is GPRS/GSM compatible and comes equipped with alarms for emergency status, geo-fencing and remote control.

WorldTracker Enduro is Smaller than a credit card, measuring 2.59 inches by 1.41 inches, is .78 inches thick, and weighs in at only 2.68 ounces and can track as quickly as every 10 seconds.

Link to item

We actually need to track these horns to their final destination - cut off the head and you kill the snake.

Wiser, have you got a link to the article where you read this?

thanks

Well I once read a story about these environmentalists who would find Rhinos that survive the harvesting of their horn and actually fitted them with a sort of Rhinoceros Prosthesis. It was an incredibly gawdy orange affair, but seemed to approximate the use of a Rhino's real horn. The problem being that only a small percentage survive the harvest and there's little time to find them before they are unable to fend for themselves.

I think the main use of the Rhinoceros' horn is for foraging, it's used to dig and the like. Can anyone confirm this?

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


Hi Dan

It is being reported on Sky News. No written report yet!

reply to post by Loki


I did some digging and found an answer to your question:

Q: Why do rhinos have horns?

A: The horns are very well developed in the two species in Africa (black and white rhinos), but much smaller in the three species in Asia (Sumatran with 2 very small horns, Indian and Javan with one horn). The Asian species certainly do not use the horns to fight or to defend themselves, they use their incisors (sharp front teeth for the purpose). The horns have come about in evolution and they had (have) a general function to impress members of the opposite sex. Horns are also used for digging in waterbeds to find water, or to uproot shrubs etc. Some rhinos use the horn to guide their offspring. This is generally the front horn, the second horn does not have a very specific purpose at the moment. We suppose that they had some purpose in the course of evolution.

Link

reply to post by wiser3


Nevermind, I found this link:

Link

thanks

Typical! The criminals have more rights than the endangered rhino:

Hern has been warned by unnamed lawyers that he could get "into a lot of trouble" if someone is harmed by ingesting rhino harm that was poisoned.

-- edit to add quote --

[edit on 2/8/2010 by deltaalphanovember]

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


Hi Dan

Yes, I acually saw the interview with Hern yesterday (on Sky), apparently it is on his farm that the Rhino that was orphaned is now being cared for.
I want to know exactly how they are going to prove that the Rhino Horn which harmed some idiot had its origin on his farm unless someone who is involved with poaching in his area is also one of the "unnamed lawyers" and is not only involved with the poaching but is also selling the product!

reply to post by wiser3


In South Africa, certain items (including pesticides) are Controlled Items. They need permits to purchase, and these items are tracked according to batch numbers and usage).
I would imagine that cyanide is one of those substances.

It would be fairly simple to track the source of the poisoning through simpe investigative techniques.

reply to post by deltaalphanovember

I understand but if some guy in China becomes ill or dies would it be as simple as that to follow the track from Powdered Rhino Horn being sold on some black market in China to a farm in Africa?
I am just asking as I don't really have much knowledge on the subject and you so obviously do have?
Thanks for your responses so far!

reply to post by wiser3


I don't know if this is being implemented in South Africa yet:

Scientists at the National Institute of Immunology (NII) in Delhi have developed a genetic probe that can detect rhino horn even if it is crushed into powder or mixed with something else to evade recognition by wild life inspectors.

``The probe is so powerful that it can not only find out whether the specimen contained rhino horn but also tell whether it came from rhinoceros in Assam or West Bengal,'' said Sher Ali, head of NII's molecular genetics laboratory.

Link

We need a DNA bank containing the dna markers for every living rhino - urgently!

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


Well that answer my question, if they can trace the Rhino Horn to that degree then they will surely be able to trace the Cyanide!
I agree a DNA Databank is needed!

reply to post by deltaalphanovember


It would be pretty useless to chip these things really, the battery life shouldn't be a problem really, they could probably convert movement into a decent charge. But if these horns are worth so much the poachers will easily get around them, 3 ways just off the top of my head. 1) Simply wrap the horns in tin foil, no reception, no tracking. 2) Locate the chip with a scanner, it's already a common practice with people who steal high end vehicles to use a locater - the chip has to report it's location there for it announces it's self through radio waves - you can buy hand held scanners. 3) Again locate the chip, but this time with x-rays.

edit - 4) - you could probably locate the chip visually, just look for where the horn has been drilled..... Problem is that the Rhino would have already have been killed chipped or not, problem not solved.

[edit on 2/8/2010 by Now_Then]

reply to post by Now_Then


No solution is foolproof - the only real solution is putting the people who can afford to buy the horn powder in jail for a while.

Even if they escape jailtime, the publicity would make them very uncomfortable.