Scientists are making rhino horns radioactive in a scheme to combat poachers.
The initiative in South Africa, which involves injecting radioactive material into horns, will both enable them to be tracked and make the prized objects less desirable to poachers.
Under the Rhisotope Project, rhinos are sedated during the procedure before a small amount of radioisotopes is inserted into a hole drilled into their horns.
A pilot phase in June 2024 saw 20 rhinos successfully injected with the radioactive material, which will allow authorities to trace illegal trade with the use of existing nuclear security infrastructure.
Making horns radioactive will also make them a liability to those who wish to smuggle them overseas, as the metal will set off detectors at ports and airports.
James Larkin, Director of the Radiation and Health Physics Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand said that the process would make rhino horns unsuitable for sale globally.
‘No one wants a radioactive horn’, he said.
Arrie Van Deventer, founder and director of the rhino orphanage, said that the scheme could be a ‘holy grail’ for the species.
‘It is wonderful, I am telling you, this could be the holy grail to save the species’, he said.
Around 500 rhinos are killed for their horns each year in South Africa, home to 80 per cent of the world’s population.
A total of 105 were killed in the first quarter of 2025 alone, the ministry of forestry, fisheries and the environment said.
Poachers sell horns to traffickers who in turn send them to lucrative overseas markets, including China and Vietnam.
A typical rhino horn can be sold for more than its weight in gold at $60,000 per kilogram.
The global rhino horn black market is now worth an estimated $20billion.
The use of nuclear technology could also be used to help protect other endangered species, including elephants and pangolins.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said: ‘Radiation portal monitors were not initially envisioned as rhino savers.
‘They are a cornerstone of nuclear security detection infrastructure… The Rhisotope Project means this technology will now also help combat illicit wildlife trafficking.’
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