The Rhisotope Project

Mary & Jordan brought rhinos to #Fissionary thanks to our guest from The Rhisotope Project, who wants to use radioisotopes to: 🦏 Devalue rhino horns 🦏 Catch poachers in the act Tune into the latest episode: https://lnkd.in/e2f_yvkG

We hope you all had a wonderful weekend! 🌞 Here’s to a great week ahead, filled with fresh starts and gentle reminders of the beauty around us. Nothing quite captures that feeling like this little rhino calf. Here’s wishing everyone a week full of wonder, resilience, and small victories! 🦏💚 • • 📷 @buffalokloof #MondayMotivation #BabyRhino #NewBeginnings #ConservationJourney #WitsforGood #trp #therhisotopeproject #wits #rhino #antipoaching #nuclear

We are so proud to collaborate with organisations like Palesa Pads. We hope to help thousands of more young girls so they can continue their education journeys and thrive. The Rhisotope hopes to inspire communities through our ambassador spiece, the rhino. 🦏 Which will help protect and grow community resources.

Our amazing sponsors The Rhisotope Project saved another 287 girls from Meetsetsehla SS, LP by sponsoring them with Palesa Pads Basic Flo Kits that will last them for the next 5 years. #RhisotopeProject #PalesaPads #ReusablePads #WashablePads #KeepAGirlChildInSchool #ChangingLives

🌍🐘 Heritage Day 2024: Celebrating South Africa's Natural Heritage 🦏🌿 Today, we honor not just our cultural roots, but also the incredible wildlife that makes South Africa so special. At the Rhisotope Project, we're fighting to protect our rhino heritage, ensuring these majestic creatures remain part of our landscape for future generations. Join us in preserving our natural heritage by supporting innovative conservation efforts that combine science and passion to safeguard our rhinos. Let's protect our wildlife legacy-because our heritage is more than just our past, it's our future.💚 #wildlife #rhino #whiterhino #heritageday2024 #southafrica #rhisotopeproject #trp #nuclear #isotope #collaboration #wits

🦏🌍 This #WorldRhinoDay, the Rhisotope Project is proud to stand at the forefront of innovative rhino conservation, combining cutting-edge science with the power of global collaboration to protect one of the world’s most majestic species. As rhinos continue to face the devastating threat of poaching for their horns, we’ve taken a groundbreaking approach by using science to make these beautiful animals undesirable targets. Our work involves the safe application of radioactive isotopes into rhino horns, making them useless on illegal markets without harming the rhinos themselves. This pioneering method could be a game-changer in the fight against wildlife crime, and we couldn’t be more hopeful about its potential to create lasting impact. But we can’t do it alone. Conservation is a global effort, and we need your help! Whether through spreading awareness, supporting conservation initiatives, or getting involved in local efforts, every action counts. Together, we can ensure that rhinos thrive in their natural habitats and remain an integral part of our planet’s biodiversity. Today, we honor not only the resilience of these incredible creatures but also the tireless efforts of those fighting to protect them. Let’s keep working towards a future where rhinos roam free, safe from harm. Join us in celebrating rhinos and supporting the cause to #EndPoaching once and for all. 🦏 • • 📷 @buffalokloof #therhisotopeproject #wildlife #blackrhino #whiterhino #worldrhinoday2024 #habitat #wits #collaboration #nuclear #isotopes #science

Innovative technologies like X-ray scanners are proving vital in the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking. These machines are able to differentiate materials based on their composition, with metal appearing blue and plastic orange. This allows officers to detect organic matter, like rhino horn, without opening bags. Our fake rhino horn recently went through the X-ray machine at the agricultural inspection section of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), demonstrating just how effective these systems can be in detecting and preventing illegal trade. #therhisotopeproject #wildlife #whiterhino #blackrhino #collaboration #wits #habitat #customborderpatrol #usa #xray #nuclear #isotope #antipoaching #technology #wildlifecrime

Rhino Horn Facts: Did you know? Rhino horns are truly unique! Unlike elephant tusks or other animals' horns, a rhino's horn is made of keratin - the same protein found in your hair and nails.' But how does it attach to the skull? Rhino horns don't have a bony core like antlers. Instead, they grow from the skin, similar to how your nails grow from your fingers. The base of the horn is fused tightly to the skull, which makes it strong enough to handle the rough life in the wild, from charging through thick bush to defending themselves from predators. 📸 @patbonior #therhisotopeproject #wildlife #whiterhino #horn #southafrica #didyouknow #facts #nuclear #isotope #collaboration #wits #habitat #antipoaching #witsforgood #TRP

On June 25, 2024, the Rhisotope Project reached a significant milestone in wildlife conservation with the successful insertion of a radioactive isotope into a rhino horn. This groundbreaking initiative, which took place under the careful supervision of scientists, conservationists, and veterinary experts, represents a pioneering approach to combating rhino poaching. The Rhisotope Project, a collaborative effort involving multiple international organizations and research institutions, aims to deter poaching by making rhino horns traceable and undesirable on the black market. By inserting a small, safe amount of a radioactive isotope into the horn, the project hopes to create a powerful tool for law enforcement and conservationists to track and recover illegally traded rhino horns, while also discouraging poachers from targeting these endangered animals in the first place. The launch event was marked by a demonstration of the isotope insertion process, where experts showcased the precision and care taken to ensure the safety of the rhino involved. The isotope used poses no threat to the rhino’s health, but it renders the horn detectable by scanning equipment and traceable in international trade. This innovative approach is seen as a potential game-changer in the fight against poaching, which continues to threaten the survival of rhinos across Africa. By making the horn less appealing to poachers and more difficult to sell, the Rhisotope Project aims to protect rhinos from the devastating impact of illegal hunting. The project’s successful launch has been met with widespread support from the global conservation community, and it highlights the importance of continued innovation in the fight to save endangered species. As the Rhisotope Project moves forward, it holds promise as a model for integrating science, technology, and conservation to protect some of the world’s most vulnerable wildlife. #therhisotopeproject #recap #wildlife #whiterhino #blackrhino #antipoaching #wits #collaboration #nuclear #nuclearisotope #science #witsforgood #pilot #technology #conservation

AND the Results Are In! ☢️🦏 Team members from the Rhisotope Project have just returned from New York, where they've been collaborating with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the news is incredibly exciting! They conducted groundbreaking tests simulating the smuggling of a rhino horn embedded with a radioactive isotope. Using advanced airport detectors and scanners, they achieved outstanding results-the isotopes were immediately detected, triggering alarms exactly as intended. This success marks a huge milestone for the Rhisotope Project, demonstrating the real-world potential of this innovative approach to deter rhino poaching. By making it nearly impossible to transport illegal rhino horn undetected, this technology could play a critical role in protecting these majestic animals from the threat of extinction. Stay tuned for more updates as the team continues to push the boundaries of conservation science! 🦏🧪 #wildlife #therhisotopeproject #wits #collaboration #whiterhino #blackrhino #uscustomsandborderprotection #nuclear #rhinohorn #isotopes #nuclearisotope #antipoaching #harbour #airport #newyork #southafrica #team #newsisin #sciencesavingrhino #customsandborderprotection