ZOOKEEPERS at a Czech zoo has started the gruesome task of removing the horns of its 21 rhinos to protect them from poachers.

Rhino horns are highly sought after for their medicinal value in treating cancer, colds and fevers to high blood pressure and impotence, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Zookeepers took the drastic action after an attack on a Parisian zoo earlier this month resulted in the death of a rhino, who’s attackers stole its horn.

The attacks are said to illustrate the spread of horn poaching from beyond its traditional boundaries of Africa and Asia.

The Dvur Kralove Zoo has four southern white rhinos and 17 black ones, the largest group of its kind in Europe. The decision to saw off the horns of its resident rhino population was a hard one, according to director Premsyl Rabas.

“However, the risk that the rhinos currently face not only in the wild but even in zoos is too high. The safety of the animals is our first concern,” he told the Chicago Tribune.

“A dehorned rhino is definitely a better option than a dead rhino.”

The animals experience no pain throughout the procedure because there is no live tissue in a rhino’s horn, a zoo spokesperson said.

“It’s just compact matter, similar to nails or to hair. If you cut it, it’s like cutting your hair or your nails. So it has no impact on the life of the animal.”

Pamir, a 10-year-old male rhino, was the first to have his horn cut off earlier this week. The horns will then be held in a “safe place” outside the park.

Meantime, five frozen tigers have been discovered in a Vietnamese man’s freezer with their organs removed, according to official reports Tuesday, in a country seen as a global hub for the illegal wildlife trade.

Tiger organs and bones are used for medicinal purposes in the communist country, where a thriving local market drives the illegal sale of animal parts including ivory and rhino horn.

But Vietnam is also a key transit route for wildlife parts destined for elsewhere in Asia, including neighbouring China.

The five tigers were discovered in the central province of Nghe An on Monday, according to a report from the official provincial newspaper.

“The authorities found inside a freezer five dead tigers, with the skins intact but the internal organs removed,” it said.

The tigers were Indochinese, according to Vietnam News Agency, but officials said police would investigate further.

Pictures provided by the Zoo Dvur Kralove.