Illegal demand for rhino horns for use in traditional Asian
medicine has soared in recent years. As a result, rhino deaths
by poaching hit an all-time high in 2010, and 2011 is likely to
beat that number. Last year, the owner of the Rhino & Lion
Nature Reserve near Johannesburg, South Africa, proposed a new
idea to help save rhinos: poison their horns. By injecting the
horns with cyanide—a process that would not harm the rhinos but
could sicken or even kill anyone who tried to consume “medicine”
made from the horns—Ed Hern theorized that he could disrupt the
market for illegal rhino horns. A year later, Hern and his Rhino
Rescue Project have taken the idea further. They are now
proposing instead to inject an anti-tick parasiticide into
rhinos’ horns. “The treatment is for the benefit and improved
health of the animal—but it is highly toxic to humans,” Hern’s
daughter Lorinda, who serves as the reserve’s marketing manager,
said last week at a press conference. Symptoms of ingesting the
drug cocktail—developed