Rhino poaching may be substantially reduced by removing the reason so many rhinos are poached in the first place: their highly valued horns.
Dehorning rhinos dramatically drops the poaching rate compared with other tactics, researchers report June 5 in Science. The researchers suggest that no other anti-poaching intervention — such as protective fencing or higher concentrations of rangers — has such a measurable effect.
The illegal trade of rhino horn is a dire conservation threat for the world’s five rhino species, with poaching pressure driving the rapid decline of Africa’s black and white rhinoceroses over the past decade. This is despite years of substantial human effort. Throughout 11 reserves