A SOUTH African game reserve owner has developed a non-lethal poison that he has injected into the horns of his rhinos in a bid to deter the poaching syndicates that are slaughtering one of the country’s most endangered species.
The radical new step that Inverdoorn reserve owner Damian Vergnaud has taken to protect his animals has come as game rangers in the Kruger National Park found the carcases of 11 white rhinos poached for their horn this week.
During anti-poaching operations on Wednesday, Kruger National Park game rangers also came across a group of suspected poachers from Mozambique who refused to surrender when confronted.
“During the confrontation, that happened at night, two suspected poachers from Mozambique were fatally wounded [in a shoot-out,” SA National Parks spokesman Reynold Thakhuli said in a statement.
Seventy-eight suspected poachers were arrested in the Kruger National Park last year, the worst on record in South Africa for rhino poaching, with 443 animals killed compared to 333 the year before.
Mr Vergnaud told South Africa’s Times newspaper that he approached scientists and a vet to work towards finding a substance that would deter would-be poachers, and they came up with a concoction that would tackle the problem on a number of fronts.
Mr Vergnaud said the anti-poaching formula contained three substances, which were injected into the horns of two female rhinos and a calf at his reserve outside Cape Town late last year.
The first substance injected was a dye that is used to foil cash-in-transit robbers by marking the bank notes if the box they are kept in is forced open.
This would appear on the inside of the horn to spoil it for decorative purposes.
The second substance injected makes the horn visible on an X-ray scanner, which will make smuggling horns through border customs more difficult.
And the final substance is called barium – this has an off-putting taste and makes those who ingest it mildly ill.
“It tastes very bad if you put it into your mouth. You can’t swallow it, it is just too disgusting. Even if someone is crazy enough to swallow it, it will just cause some diarrhoea and nausea, he said. “It’s harmless no one can die from it.”
Rhino horn has become popular in traditional medicines in Asia, where many people believe it is a cure for cancer. South Africa is home to 90 per cent of the world’s remaining rhinos, and has a population in the region of 19,000 animals.