South African researchers test use of nuclear technology to curb rhino poaching

MOKOPANE, South Africa — Researchers in South Africa have injected radioactive material into the horns of 20 rhinos as part of a research project aimed at reducing poaching.

“We are doing this because it makes it significantly easier to intercept these horns as they are being trafficked over international borders, because there is a global network of radiation monitors that have been designed to prevent nuclear terrorism," said Professor James Larkin, who heads the project. "And we’re piggybacking on the back of that.”, an international conservation body, the global rhino population stood at around 500,000 at the beginning of the 20th century.

“We’ve got to do something new and something different to reduce poaching. You know, you’ll see the figures they’ve already started going up," said Larkin. "During Covid, they all went down but post Covid we are now starting to see those numbers go up again.”While the idea has received support from some in the industry, the researchers have had to jump many ethical hurdles posed by critics of their methodology.

Professor Nithaya Chetty, dean of the science faculty at Witwatersrand, said the dosage of the radioactivity is very low and its potential negative impact on the animal was tested extensively.A new carbon removal plant will absorb carbon dioxide 99,000 times faster than Earth's oceans

Source: Tech Daily Report (techdailyreport.net)

Rhino Poaching James Larkin University Of The Witwatersrand Radiation Detectors Researchers Rhinos Nuclear Terrorism

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