On the Hunt for Horns
On March 7, 2017 poachers broke into the Thoiry zoo in France, killing a white rhinoceros and sawing off his horn. The coveted rhino horn most likely made it onto the black market and sold for up to $54,000 dollars a kilogram. The horn of a rhinoceros is a hot commodity in regular and black markets. According to National Geographic, it is the world’s most valuable appendage in an exotic marketplace along with elephant ivory, tiger penises and giraffe tails. Their horns are made of keratin, a protein similar to the makeup of human nails. A rhino’s horn is believed to have specific medicinal properties and is most commonly used as an aphrodisiac; it is ground and ingested to treat...