Rhino Horns: A Means to Salvation or Condemnation

In an article published on nytimes.com by Rachel Nuwer scientists may have found the means to stop  the poaching of African Black Rhinos. Poaching of animals has been a problem and has caused the extinction of many different species throughout the history of humanity. African Black Rhinos have been considered endangered for some time now. These animals are poached in desire of their horns. Many wealthy elites in Vietnam and China desire these horns because they are rare. They are used as a symbol for social status and are given as gifts for medical reasons (preventing hangovers).

 

Rhino horns are made from the animals nose hair that is stuck together by a “glue” (collagen) that is secreted by the animal’s nose glands. There is also cellulose in the horns of these animals as they sharpen their horns on various plants. Interestingly enough, horses are actually a close relative to rhinos so in hopes to stop the poaching of these horns, scientists have created fake horns from horse hair. These fake horns are made from tightly bundled horse hair which is then bound together by mixture of liquefied silk to imitate the mixture of cellulose and collagen in real horns.  

Scientists believe that if they can introduce these fake horns into the market then it will undermine the value of real rhino horns, thus making the desire to have them decrease, and decrease poaching of rhinos. While conservationists appreciate the attempt in saving these animals, this method has been met with some serious concern from conservationists. Conservationists believe this will only encourage poaching of rhinos. They believe this because it is already a known fact that there are various fakes of rhino horns already on the market and it has not stopped poaching yet. A similar experiment was done with ivory to stop the poaching of elephants and it actually increased the poaching of elephants due to an increase in demand of real ivory. 

Conservationists instead urge law enforcement to target those who are in high demand of rhino horns, which are usually very wealthy men. There was an interview done with 20 extremely wealthy Vietnamese men and it was found that none of the 20 fall for fakes. To ensure that their product is real they often request the tail of the rhino upon purchase to make sure there is not a fake being purchased. 

There still is hope in stopping the poaching of rhinos. Many people believed rhino horns cure cancered and various of other things upon consumption. These beliefs are now diminishing which could warrant a decline in demand for these animal parts however, as long as the wealthy hold rhino horns in such high regard these animals will always be in danger.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/science/synthetic-rhino-horn.html