Fancy a taste of your own toenails? That’s what vendors in Vietnam or China could say when offering powdered rhino horn. This coveted “trophy” is made up of keratin, the same structural protein as human nails and hair. And a new study in Scientific Reports finds it about as nutritious, despite claims to the contrary, underlining the scientific consensus that consuming rhino horn has no real health benefits. In parts of Asia where traditional Chinese medicine is deeply rooted, people have been consuming rhino horn for millennia. Medical texts from the 16th century show that rhino horn has been touted as a cure for ailments ranging from fever and rheumatism to snakebites and even demonic possession. “Rhino horns have a long history of being sold as part of TCM [Traditional Chinese Medicine] by doctors who … believe that rhino horns … will dispel heat and clear toxins from the body,” said study lead author Terri Roth, head of the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden in the U.S. Yet the new research revealed that while beneficial minerals were present in rhino horn, they only occurred in very low concentrations — not enough to impart any kind of benefit. The trade in rhino horn has long been the main threat to rhino populations in Africa and Asia, where poachers kill the animals and cut off their horns with a machete or chainsaw — sometimes while the animal is still alive. This makes…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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