![TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JUSTINE GERARDY TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JUSTINE GERARDY](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/gettyimages-105869033.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
Zimbabwe is set to employ a new strategy to ensuring that dozens of rhino in its national parks are protected from poachers: it is removing their sought-after horns.
At least 100 rhino in state-run parks across the African country will be dehorned, a conservation group was quoted as saying by Reuters on Tuesday.
“We want to send a message to poachers that they will not get much if they come to Zimbabwe,” said Lisa Maribini, director of operations at Aware Trust Zimbabwe, one of two organizations assisting the government in dehorning the animals.
Another 600-odd rhino reside in private game reserves, which may or may not choose to dehorn the animals, she added.
Similar measures were taken in 2010.
Poaching is a major problem in Africa, with conservation groups estimating that a record 1,305 rhino were killed across the continent last year. Of those, 50 were killed in Zimbabwe, the World Wildlife Fund said, double that of the previous year.
[Reuters]
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone
- What to Do if You Can’t Afford Your Medications
- How to Buy Groceries Without Breaking the Bank
- Sienna Miller Is the Reason to Watch Horizon
- Why So Many Bitcoin Mining Companies Are Pivoting to AI
- The 15 Best Movies to Watch on a Plane
- Want Weekly Recs on What to Watch, Read, and More? Sign Up for Worth Your Time
Write to Rishi Iyengar at rishi.iyengar@timeasia.com