PROFILE
Crunching numbers to save species
Academics are using stats to help protect creatures big and small — from ghost frogs to rhinos
12 June 2025 - 05:00
A sinister new twist is unfolding in South Africa’s war against rhino poaching. The practice of dehorning rhinos initially led to a drop in poaching, but as the horns begin to grow back, the poachers are returning.
“Within six months to a year after dehorning, there’s quite a bit of horn regrowth,” says statistical ecologist Res Altwegg. As little as a kilogram of horn may remain above the growth plate immediately after dehorning, he says. But black market prices are so high that even shaving off that small amount is profitable for poachers — and fatal for the rhinos...
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