Cutting off rhino horns to prevent poaching makes them homebodies
Monday, June 12, 2023 - 19:13
in Biology & Nature
When rhino poaching reached a crisis level in 2014, wildlife managers in southern Africa turned to a last-ditch defense. They started sawing off horns, which doesn’t hurt rhinos, but may dissuade poachers from killing the endangered animals. Now, researchers have for the first time shown that this conservation practice changes the behavior of black rhinoceros ( Diceros bicornis ), making the animals roam far less widely and presumably interact less with other rhinos. The discovery, reported today in the Proceedings of the National Academy...