 Reference Base  Under siege: poaching and protection of greater one-horne... |
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Menon, V., 1995. Under siege: poaching and protection of greater one-horned rhinoceroses in India. Delhi, Traffic India, pp. i-iv, 1-114
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| Location: |
Asia - South Asia - India |
| Subject: |
Value - Related to Horn |
| Species: |
Asian Rhino Species |
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During this study, several fakes were seen and photographed, mainly materials seized by law enforcement agencies. Baidya (1982) documents the manufacture of a rhinoceros horn from a cattle horn (either from domestic cow or Water Buffalo). He reports that a domestic cattle horn is mounted on a cement base and suitably coated to pass off as a genuine rhinoceros horn. However, in the case he examined, the exterior coating had peeled off revealing its spurious character and the fake was obviously not as expertly made as some which are in the market today. Such fakes are also common in Africa: for example, in 1983 six fakes were seen in Zambia. In this case, the horns bearing a close resemblance to real horns were made from a mixture of resin, cow hair and cowdung. The price asked was US$64 per horn.
Among the fakes seen during the author's investigations, the most simple ones ranged from carvings in stone and moulded plastic horns. The commoner ones are made from wild buffalo horns and cattle bones. The horn is shaped and then the basal surface of a rhinoceros horn imitated by using wax or other resinous substances. In many cases it is very difficult to distinguish real horn from manufactured imitations, but examination of the base very carefully is often the best way of doing so. Real rhinoceros horn has many minute canaliculi-like channels that dot the base creating a pitted surface. It is very difficult to reproduce these on fake horns. The most interesting fakes and usually the ones resembling real horn most closely are those using bamboo root. The roots of certain kinds of bamboos are dug out and carved in the form of a rhinoceros horn. They are then dipped in oil and hung in the sun for many days until the correct colour is attained. The advantage that a bamboo root has over other substances is that naturally, bamboo has a porous base which lends itself to a the creation of a simulated rhinoceros horn base. In most cases, the fakes succeed in being passed off as real ones, and therefore fetch prices commensurate with rhinoceros horn prices.
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