JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Researchers in South Africa are set to inject the horns of 20 rhinos with radioactive chips in a bid to curb poaching.
South Africa has one of the world’s largest rhino populations. Poachers who smuggle rhino horns — which are thought to have healing properties in some traditional medicines — often target the country.
Researchers hope the radioactive chips will make consuming the horns poisonous to humans, and undermine black market trading by making them easier to detect at the border.
The chips contain a low dose of radioactivity and are not harmful to the animals.
