Rhino Rescue Project.
After a poaching incident on their Reserve at the end of May 2010, the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve, near Johannesburg in South Africa contemplated many methods of fighting the poaching scourge: from de-horning of animals to microchips and tracking devices. The problem they found with all of the alternatives, however, was that they were largely reactive instead of proactive, and did not deter poachers from striking again.
Logically, a permanent solution is to eliminate the demand for rhino horn altogether. Education would go a long way towards teaching consumers that rhino horn contains no nutritional or medicinal value, however, education will not produce an immediate result, and results are what we need at this point.
In the weeks immediately following the poaching of our rhino cow called Queenstown, we considered poisoning our rhino’s horns. It was an emotionally-based reaction which we began researching. We liaised with many researchers working on a number of different projects, including those affecting the general health of rhino. Of particular interest to us was work being done on the control of ecto‑parasites (ticks etc.), through the treatment of the horn with depot ectoparasiticides. Because all of our rhino’s are wild they would not normally be treated against parasites, since we believe strongly in nature being allowed to run its course and human intervention being kept to a minimum, however, upon realising that treatment could potentially neutralise a dual threat (both poaching and parasites) we decided to proceed with testing and then the subsequent treatment.
Ectoparasiticides are not intended for consumption by humans, and are registered as such. Although not lethal in small quantities, they are extremely toxic, and symptoms of accidental ingestion may include, but are not limited to, severe nausea, vomiting, convulsions and / or nervous symptoms. Because of these side-effects, the treated rhino and their horns must be visibly identifiable, to avoid ingestion of treated horns by people. Furthermore, in the selection of acaracides for inclusion in the treatment compound, care was taken to only consider Ox Pecker-friendly acaricides to ensure little or no collateral damage to other animals and organisms sharing the rhino’s habitat.
http://www.rhinorescueproject.com/about-the-project/
Some great pictures on their home page : http://www.rhinorescueproject.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rhino-Rescue-Project/192184154182685
