In an effort to stymie poachers in their quest for Rhinoceros horns, scientists have been able to reproduce believable fake horns using horse hair.
Rhino horns are used as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine. With both men and women alike always looking for an edge in the bedroom, the demand won’t die down anytime soon.
The poaching of rhinos for their horns threatens the already endangered animal. In 2018, the last male northern white rhino died, leaving only two females of the subspecies alive. The only hope for their return is artificial insemination.
Five subspecies of rhino still exist. These are the ones scientist hope to save with the introduction of the fake horns.
Rhino horn is itself a dense mass of fused hair. The scientist have found a way to form horse hair to make a believable horn, even when cut. Their hope is to flood the market with the fake horn and slow down the illegal trade.
Some don’t believe the scheme will work. The fear is that the fakes will only drive up demand for the real thing.
At the end of the day, all attempts to save a species from extinction are worth investigating.
This could provide an interesting background for an international thriller, a young scientist swept up in stopping a large-scale organization. There could be multiple animal species involved. The fakes created by scientists could provide the entrance into the group, and the infiltration could be orchestrated by a secret society tasked with saving the Earth’s species. Maybe throw in biblical references to Noah’s ark and this could be a Dan Brown style page-turner.
