We shouldn't have to dehorn rhinos to keep them safe. The ideal is to let rhinos live as they should - horns and all. That's the message from a Nelson Mandela University scientist who led a landmark seven-year study showing that while dehorning can significantly reduce poaching, it's not a long-term solution. To truly protect rhinos, he says, we must dismantle the criminal syndicates. A major study published on 5 June in the prestigious journal Science shows that dehorning rhinos - while controversial - is highly effective at reducing poaching in one of the most critical strongholds for these animals. The seven-year study, "Dehorning reduces rhino poaching", was led by biodiversity scientist Dr Tim Kuiper of Nelson Mandela University, and tracked poaching incidents across 11 reserves in the Greater Kruger region between 2017 and 2023. "We documented the poaching of 1,985 rhinos - about 6.5% of the population annually - across 11 Greater Kruger reserves over seven years. This landscape is a critical global stronghold that conserves about 25% of all Africa's rhinos," said Kuiper.