Dehorning rhinos helps reduce poaching

▲ An analysis of data from 11 reserves in South Africa between 2017 and 2023 showed a 78 percent decrease in the capture of these endangered animals. Photo: AFP

Europa Press

La Jornada Newspaper, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, p. 6

Madrid. Rhino dehorning results in a drastic reduction in poaching of these endangered animals, according to an analysis of data from 11 reserves in South Africa between 2017 and 2023.

Poaching for rhino horn represents a serious threat to the world's five rhinoceros species. Other measures against this scourge are ineffective, according to the study.

Lead author Tim Kuiper of Nelson Mandela University said in a statement: “We documented the poaching of 1,985 rhinos (approximately 6.5 percent of the annual population) across 11 Greater Kruger reserves over seven years. This landscape is a crucial global stronghold that conserves around 25 percent of all rhinos in Africa.

Dehorning rhinos to reduce poaching incentives (2,284 rhinos were dehorned across eight reserves) achieved a 78 percent reduction in poaching using just 1.2 percent of the total rhino protection budget . This was based on comparisons between sites with and without dehorning, as well as changes in poaching before and after dehorning.

However, the study showed that poaching of dehorned rhinos for stumps and shoots continued, while more recent evidence (2024-2025) since the study concluded in 2023 suggests this is a growing problem. Dehorning could also divert poachers' attention to horned rhino populations in other areas.

The reserves studied invested $74 million in anti-poaching interventions between 2017 and 2021. The majority of the investment focused on reactive security measures (rangers, sniffer dogs, helicopters, access controls, and detection cameras), which led to the arrest of more than 700 poachers.

However, the authors found no statistical evidence that these interventions significantly reduced poaching. Interventions that facilitate the detection and arrest of poachers, while a necessary element of anti-poaching tools, are compromised by systemic factors, such as local poverty (which drives people to take risks) and corruption (which provides a way to circumvent interventions, as this recent and compelling report highlights).