The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) will begin implanting microchips into the horns of the country’s 1,000-plus rhinos to deter poaching on a continent that has seen a “gold rush” in poaching the last few years. The World Wildlife Fund is providing more than $15,000 worth of chips and scanners.
“Poachers are getting more sophisticated in their approach,” Paul Udoto, spokesman for KWS, told AFP news agency. “Investigators will be able to link any poaching case to a recovered or confiscated horn, and this forms crucial evidence in courts.”
In addition to tracking rhino poachers, these measures could also combat organized crime in the country.