Endangered rhinos are having poison put on their horns so that they become less attractive to poachers.

Before everyone kicks off, the substance that is being put onto the horns of the rhinos is not harmful to them, or their potential offspring, in any way. It just leaves them with a purple horn and - presumably - something of a temper.

It doesn't look that easy to get a full grown rhino to allow you to do anything to it, let alone this.

Advert

However, if a human gets close to it, they are likely to suffer from severe nausea, vomiting, and convulsions.

Credit: Caters/Teagan Cunliffe

The type of poison being used is an animal-friendly toxin called an ectoparasiticide. Anti-poaching activists from the Rhino Rescue Project mix the poison with indelible dye in order to make the horns less valuable and attractive to those who would poach them.

Rhino horn is a prized commodity within the world of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a single horn can sell for more than £40,000.

Advert

That's why people need to be poisoned to stop them killing the poor animals for their precious horns.

28-year-old Teagan Cunliffe is a South African photographer working to document the work done by the Rhino Rescue Centre.

Earlier this month - 6 June, to be precise - Mr Cunliffe shared some shots of the great work being done by the rhinoceros rescuers in South Africa.

Credit: Caters/Teagan Cunliffe

Advert

Mr Cunliffe said: "The treatment lasts between three to five years, a full horn growth cycle, thereafter it needs to be re-administered.

"This costs £400 [R8000] for the entire operation, including ground crew and materials. My photographs show the process of the horn treatment by Rhino Rescue Project and The Ant Collection, from location and darting through to rhino, Mokolo's recovery."

This technique is working, too.

The conservationist team have been at this for eight years so far. In the time that has elapsed since 2011, only two per cent of the animals who've received the treatment have died.

Advert

That's through a combination of poaching and natural causes.

Credit: Caters/Teagan Cunliffe

Mr Cunliffe continued: "My favourite capture is the drone image of the people involved in Mokolo's treatment process.

"I wanted the shadows of the humans to be the main feature: the faceless guardians of a vulnerable rhino. We are the only ones who can save this species from extinction.

Advert

"This is a hugely successful proactive anti-poaching effort, and I believe that all rhinos should undergo this treatment process."