4 ms·

Not fully ruined... since the injections are typically not loose contamination, for fear that it migrates into the rhino via capillary action or irradiates the

Not fully ruined... since the injections are typically not loose contamination, for fear that it migrates into the rhino via capillary action or irradiates the rhino more than people are comfortable with. Smugglers would likely be able to use simple, cheap detectors to remove these. Potentially they don't remove the pils, simply grind the horn + source into medicine... the amount of radiation will not cause acute effects to the person who ingests it and will likely just cause some "unexplainable" tumor or system failure later in life or after a prolonged consumption.

shiandow 2y ago
Honestly I'm a bit confused, the descriptions seem contradictory or require an extraordinary level of fine tuning. If you just insert a capsule of radioactive material, it's easy to make it (extremely) poisonous, easily detectable and harmless to the rhino. But I don't see a way to do all three at once. If you just wanted to kill the consumers a small amount of an alpha emitter would work quite well, but would be hard to detect and carry a small amount of risk to the rhino if it breaks confinement. Conversely you could use a strong gamma emitter to make it easily detectable but I don't see a way to do so that would harm the consumers but not the rhino. Best you can do is some level or radioactivity that we're fine with in animals but not in humans because we're hypocrites.
- GTP 2y ago
  > Best you can do is some level or radioactivity that we're fine with in animals but not in humans because we're hypocrites. I don't know if this is the case, but if the life expectancy of rhinos is much less than humans, then there would be radiation levels that are safe for the rhino but harmful for humans. Tumors can take time to develop.
  - krisoft 2y ago
    > I don't know if this is the case, but if the life expectancy of rhinos is much less than humans, Luckily this is easily obtainable information on the internet. 'Rhinoceroses’ lifespans vary on species. A rhino’s lifespan is typically 40 to 45 years." https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/rhinoceros-fact-sheet/ https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/rhinoceros-fact-sheet/ That is less than a human lifespan but not by orders of magnitude smaller. Sounds like a very narrow needle to thread.
- omgJustTest 2y ago
  I think that no one believes killing consumers of these products is a viable solution or that it doesn't have disastrous side effects. What happens with rhinos that die? do we have to collect their tusks and these are rad-waste now? Making them radioactive with non-penetrating particles might be ok from the standpoint of trying to make them less desirable... but you aren't making them detectable & it is highly controversial to do this. In reality, and back to the solutions proposed by the article: I don't know if the source article's idea has merit or is just funded by a non-profit where this is a small pet project or if they really don't understand the tradespace.
- richardw 2y ago
  If this has a chance of getting to 100% of the population, I think if I were the rhino I’d want to take those odds given the alternative is being hunted. And if it’s eg 50%, I’d very much want to be in the injected 50% because all poaching effort would be in the non treated population. Obviously assuming all animals in an area were injected and that was known to poachers.

shiandow 2y ago

Honestly I'm a bit confused, the descriptions seem contradictory or require an extraordinary level of fine tuning. If you just insert a capsule of radioactive material, it's easy to make it (extremely) poisonous, easily detectable and harmless to the rhino. But I don't see a way to do all three at once. If you just wanted to kill the consumers a small amount of an alpha emitter would work quite well, but would be hard to detect and carry a small amount of risk to the rhino if it breaks confinement. Conversely you could use a strong gamma emitter to make it easily detectable but I don't see a way to do so that would harm the consumers but not the rhino. Best you can do is some level or radioactivity that we're fine with in animals but not in humans because we're hypocrites.

GTP 2y ago
> Best you can do is some level or radioactivity that we're fine with in animals but not in humans because we're hypocrites. I don't know if this is the case, but if the life expectancy of rhinos is much less than humans, then there would be radiation levels that are safe for the rhino but harmful for humans. Tumors can take time to develop.
- krisoft 2y ago
  > I don't know if this is the case, but if the life expectancy of rhinos is much less than humans, Luckily this is easily obtainable information on the internet. 'Rhinoceroses’ lifespans vary on species. A rhino’s lifespan is typically 40 to 45 years." https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/rhinoceros-fact-sheet/ https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/rhinoceros-fact-sheet/ That is less than a human lifespan but not by orders of magnitude smaller. Sounds like a very narrow needle to thread.
omgJustTest 2y ago
I think that no one believes killing consumers of these products is a viable solution or that it doesn't have disastrous side effects. What happens with rhinos that die? do we have to collect their tusks and these are rad-waste now? Making them radioactive with non-penetrating particles might be ok from the standpoint of trying to make them less desirable... but you aren't making them detectable & it is highly controversial to do this. In reality, and back to the solutions proposed by the article: I don't know if the source article's idea has merit or is just funded by a non-profit where this is a small pet project or if they really don't understand the tradespace.
richardw 2y ago
If this has a chance of getting to 100% of the population, I think if I were the rhino I’d want to take those odds given the alternative is being hunted. And if it’s eg 50%, I’d very much want to be in the injected 50% because all poaching effort would be in the non treated population. Obviously assuming all animals in an area were injected and that was known to poachers.