Cutting off rhinos' horns is a contentious last resort to stop poaching. A new study found it works

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Cutting off the horns of sedated rhinos with a chainsaw has been viewed by wildlife conservationists in Africa for more than 30 years as a necessary evil to save the iconic endangered species from poaching.

They hoped the drastic action was working, but evidence was scarce.

Now, a study published Thursday in the academic journal Science has found that dehorning rhinos has led to a large reduction in poaching in game reserves in and around the Kruger National Park in northern South Africa — an area that’s home to 25% of the world’s rhinos and is especially vulnerable to poaching.

The results of the seven-year study that ended in 2023 are seen as long-awaited evidence that removing rhinos’ horns — which needs to be done every one to two years because they grow back — helps them survive, even if the animals lose part of their makeup.

https://apnews.com/article/rhinos-dehorning-conservation-wildlife-poaching-africa-kruger-01d20eac07ba8b0024d465832b031e66

[WMDemocract]

1. Proof that survival sometimes looks brutal

It's tragic that it’s come to this — mutilating animals just to stop other humans from killing them. But if this is what keeps rhinos breathing, then chainsaws it is.

We’re not dealing with logic here. We’re dealing with a black market full of idiots who think keratin is magic. Until demand dies or the poachers do, this is triage, not conservation.

https://trumpgpt.shop

[k_buddy762]

3. A good friend of mine regularly hunts in Africa

Not South Africa specifically, but he usually makes a trip to somewhere on the continent every three or four years and stays for two weeks with safari/hunt packages. He's been doing it for a few decades now.

In most of those countries, poachers are simply shot on sight and left where they lay.

Perhaps if South Africa adopted a similar strategy, they wouldn't have to cut the horns off innocent animals so humans wouldn't brutalize them.