🌅 Dehorning Rhinos to Save Their Lives

SOURCE

Kuiper et al. (2025)

WHAT TO KNOW

• An international team of researchers and environmental organizations found preemptively dehorning rhinos reduced poaching by 78% across eight reserves in South Africa, proving it to be an effective conservation strategy. The study found the intervention is also highly cost-effective, achieving the results using only 1.2% of the total budget used to protect the rhinos at the reserves.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Dehorning involves sedating the rhino and removing the top of their horn above the nerves. The procedure—which is thought to be painless—has been a fairly common conservation strategy in Africa for around a decade, however, it’s also faced heavy criticism about its true efficacy and cost. The authors of the present study say their work puts that debate to rest, proving “the benefits of dehorning largely outweigh the costs.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Still, the strategy isn’t perfect: rhino horns are made primarily of keratin, the same protein as human nails, which means the horns eventually grow back (usually within around 18 months). The researchers have also found poachers are willing to kill rhinos for the stump of the horn left after dehorning, therefore describing the strategy as more of a short-term solution than a long-term answer.