In South Africa, rhino poaching remains high, with 103 killed in the first three months of 2025. Last year, 420 were lost. In recent decades, rhino populations have collapsed in Asia and Africa due to poaching and habitat loss, continuing falls driven by European colonial hunters.<\/p>\n
But the researchers behind the project, representing the University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela University, University of Stellenbosch and the University of Oxford and other conservation institutions, cautioned that dehorning rhinos was not a magic bullet. A significant stump of horn mass remains on the rhino after dehorning, and some poachers were still prepared to kill rhinos for this section.<\/p>\n
Sharon Haussmann, a pioneer in rhino conservation in South Africa and co-author on the paper, played a leading role in coordinating conservation efforts in the study area. She died unexpectedly at the weekend and Kuiper wanted to highlight the collaboration between different sectors that are often mistrustful of each other in her memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs a rhino still a rhino without its horn? That\u2019s a bigger question,\u201d said Kuiper.<\/p>\n
One study of black rhinos indicated that while poaching rates decreased, dehorned animals became more timid and covered much smaller ranges. Researchers believe that horn is used to establish territories and dehorned rhinos were unable to do this after the procedure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t like to keep dehorning them for the next 100 years,\u201d Kuiper said. \u201cIdeally we would like to address the drivers of poaching. But it is better than the impacts of poaching\u201d<\/p>\n