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A startup company called Pembient is developing a process to synthesize rhino horns. Their aim is to mass produce fakes that are indistinguishable from real horns, and hence destroy the profit motive for killing wild rhinos.
The plan begins with using modified yeast cells to produce a substance called keratin, the main component of the horn. Various trace elements found in natural horns are added in, as well as genuine rhino DNA. From these materials, a 3D printer is then used to recreate the complex structure of the horn. The only things that are missing, are the trace elements of pollutants that have made their way into the real rhino horn over time. This makes the synthetic horn more pure than the real one.
Some wildlife groups are very skeptical of the plan.
Pembient's concept, which another company – Rhinoceros Horn LLC – is also pursuing a version of, has raised the hackles of conservation groups from the World Wildlife Foundation to the wildlife monitoring network Traffic. It panders to consumers' behaviour rather than trying to change it, which could set back efforts to educate, they say. "There is general horror at the idea," says Cathy Dean, international director of the UK-based charity Save the Rhino, which earlier this month issued a joint statement with the International Rhino Foundation opposing the synthetic horn. Dean adds that ersatz horn is unlikely to dent the market – if people can afford the real thing they are going to buy it – and rebukes the company for failing properly to consult conservation professionals on the idea first.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by JeanCroix on Friday May 29 2015, @02:55PM
I read an article a few days ago about a specific rhino which had been tranquilized by poachers, had its horns hacked off, and then was left to die via the gaping wounds on its head. It was discovered still alive and saved by the locals and veterinarians, but with extensive surgery.
It struck me that if young rhinos were captured by authorities and had their horns preemptively surgically removed by veterinarians so that less danger were posed to the rhinos (and then the horns destroyed), the poachers would have no reason to go after those rhinos any more. Granted, it is ethically questionable, but if it serves the greater good of keeping rhinos from going extinct until such time that the silly superstitions regarding the horns can be ended, isn't it worth considering?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @05:16PM
It struck me that if young rhinos were captured by authorities and had their horns preemptively surgically removed by veterinarians so that less danger were posed to the rhinos (and then the horns destroyed), the poachers would have no reason to go after those rhinos any more.
(1) Horns grow back. Removing the root would probably kill the animal.
(2) The trick is to poison the horn, dye the interior and make sure everybody in the nearby villages know you did it. [pri.org]
(Score: 2) by JeanCroix on Friday May 29 2015, @06:46PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @06:52PM
> although the knowledge of dyeing and poisoning needs to be spread to the Chinese markets which are the demand for the horns.
A couple of people getting sick will cause that knowledge to spread rapidly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 29 2015, @10:55PM
Make the fake horns out of melamine.