3 ms·

One solution that I have always been supriesed hasn't been considered is cosmetically destroying the horns of living rhinos while preserving their function for

One solution that I have always been supriesed hasn't been considered is cosmetically destroying the horns of living rhinos while preserving their function for the animal. By that I mean either chemically dying the horn some unnatural color or carving/Branding "contraband" or something similar into the outside. I would think that if you can alter the horn enough that it becomes completely unappealing to the secondary market the poaching would stop.

avar 9y ago
Because aside from the logistics of constantly dying the ever-growing horn of living wild animals, the market is in e.g. rhyno horn powder, so nobody cares what they look like: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-does-a-rhino-horn-cost-300-000-because-vietnam-thinks-it-cures-cancer-and-hangovers/275881/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-doe...
- gambiting 9y ago
  Which only begs the question - how come the black market isn't absolutely saturated with fake rhino horn powder? If it's just keratin, you could make tons of it with little effort and sell it as rhino horn, no? People make fakes of items with much much much less smaller profit margins, yet rhino horn trade is not completely destroyed by fake product?
  - ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
    Of course the market IS saturated by fake product.... But when you convince a large mass of people that there is value in your "fake" Rhino Horn, that drives demand for the real thing. This is why PETA is against even fake ivory keys for your piano. Because it keeps perpetuating that ivory is valuable and desirable.
    - davidhyde 9y ago
      And the fact that the South African government requires that these farmed horns are dna tagged just gave them a way to identify the real thing. How ironic. Unless this whole thing is designed to trace out the black market distribution network..

avar 9y ago

Because aside from the logistics of constantly dying the ever-growing horn of living wild animals, the market is in e.g. rhyno horn powder, so nobody cares what they look like: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-does-a-rhino-horn-cost-300-000-because-vietnam-thinks-it-cures-cancer-and-hangovers/275881/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/05/why-doe...

gambiting 9y ago
Which only begs the question - how come the black market isn't absolutely saturated with fake rhino horn powder? If it's just keratin, you could make tons of it with little effort and sell it as rhino horn, no? People make fakes of items with much much much less smaller profit margins, yet rhino horn trade is not completely destroyed by fake product?
- ghostbrainalpha 9y ago
  Of course the market IS saturated by fake product.... But when you convince a large mass of people that there is value in your "fake" Rhino Horn, that drives demand for the real thing. This is why PETA is against even fake ivory keys for your piano. Because it keeps perpetuating that ivory is valuable and desirable.
  - davidhyde 9y ago
    And the fact that the South African government requires that these farmed horns are dna tagged just gave them a way to identify the real thing. How ironic. Unless this whole thing is designed to trace out the black market distribution network..