rhinos<\/a>.<\/p>\nWatch this video to learn more \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f:<\/p>\n
What are poachers?<\/p>\n
Poachers are people who illegally hunt animals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Poachers hunt rhinos for their horns, which are bought by people who want to show off their wealth and sometimes for traditional Chinese medicine.<\/p>\n
According to James Larkin, the chief scientific officer of the Rhisotope Project, there is a large international criminal network involving the illegal trade of rhino horns.<\/p>\n
Larkin told CBC\u2019s As it Happens that a rhino horn can fetch as much as $60,000 US ($82,000 Cdn) on the black market.<\/p>\n
Poachers cut the horns off of rhinos, which is harmful and often fatal for the animals.<\/p>\n
Most species of rhinos are endangered or at risk of being endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/radioactive-rhinos-world-population-860x484.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Overall, the total world population of rhinos has been increasing in the last few years thanks to conservation efforts. (Image credit: International Rhino Foundation)<\/p>\n
Currently, there are around 28,000 rhinos in the world, mostly in South Africa.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a sharp decline from the estimated 500,000 rhinos that roamed the Earth in the early 1900s.<\/p>\n
Poaching and habitat loss are the leading causes of the rhino\u2019s decline. Around 500 rhinos are poached every year in South Africa.<\/p>\n
Using his expertise in radiology, Larkin said he was determined to find a humane solution to this problem.<\/p>\n
How the Rhisotope Project prevents poaching<\/p>\n
Larkin worked with a team of scientists from the University of Witwatersrand in 2019 to study and develop a safe way to embed radioactive materials into rhino horns.<\/p>\n
The idea is that radiation detectors at airports, borders and seaports will detect the radioactive materials in the rhino horns when they are being moved illegally.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink of it like a very bright light that you can\u2019t turn off,\u201d Larkin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t see it, but the detectors can. Even if it\u2019s hidden in a large shipping container.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are around 10,000 of these detectors already in place around the world, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which partnered with Larkin on the project.<\/p>\n
Does radiation hurt rhinos?<\/p>\n
In 2024, scientists with the Rhisotope Project tested the idea on 20 rhinos.<\/p>\n
Using blood tests and veterinary inspections, the project\u2019s research showed that rhinos weren\u2019t negatively affected by the small amount of radiation in their horns.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/radioactive-rhinos-james-larkin-860x484.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
A rhino being prepared for the procedure by James Larkin inside the Unesco Waterberg Biosphere in South Africa. (Image credit: University of Witswatersrand)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s normal for animals, including humans, to be exposed to radiation on a daily basis,\u201d said Jamie No\u00ebl, a chemistry professor at Western University in London, Ont., who works with radioactive materials.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour body actually has biological mechanisms to repair radiation damage, as long as it\u2019s a low level.\u201d<\/p>\n
This past summer, the Rhisotope project was officially launched for operational status.<\/p>\n
That means conservationists and owners can now reach out to the Rhisotope team and request their rhino to be tagged with the radioactive material.<\/p>\n
Larkin hopes that this technology can be used in the future to protect other animals that are vulnerable to poaching, like elephants and pangolins.<\/p>\n
Check out these other animal news videos \u2b07\ufe0f:<\/p>\n
\ufeff\ufeffHave more questions? \ufeffWant to tell us how we’re doing? Use the \u201csend us feedback\u201d link below. \u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n
With files from CBC Radio<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rhinos are not negatively affected by the radiation What happens when you give a rhinoceros a radioactive substance?…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":{"0":"post-132788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}