Radioactive material has been injected into rhino horns in an attempt to reduce poaching.
Radioactive material has been injected into rhino horns to stop poaching
Experts in South Africa have injected the material into the horns of 20 of the animals in the hope that radiation detectors in place at national borders will help the authorities arrest poachers and traffickers.
The project has included the participation of vets and nuclear experts and it could be replicated on other animals at risk of poaching - such as elephants - if it proves successful.
Professor James Larkin, who heads the project at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, said: "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. And we're piggybacking on the back of that."