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Value |
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All Rhino Species |
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The most appalling drain on the Asiatic rhino population has come through the wanton killing of the animal for its horn, believed by the Chinese and other Asiatic populations to have powerful aphrodisiac properties. The amount of money received for one horn can be more than a lifetime's normal wages of an ordinary worker.
Horn cannot be an aphrodisiac
The horn of the rhinoceros differs considerably from all horns that can be found in other mammals. The Rhinoceros Horn is actually no horn at all, but is made up similarly to the skinhorns (Cornu Cutaneum) that are found as pathological growths frequently in other mammals including Homo sapiens. This alone is ample proof that it cannot act as an aphrodisiac since the horn is comparable to the epidermis which definitely can never contain sexual hormones such as testosterone. The widely spread belief in the mechanical effects of the ground horn and the very sharp small hairy parts it contains is based on an absolutely false theory. When taken in any form, the ground horn therefore being discharged as urine through the penis, will have been completely dissolved on passing through the stomach into the kidneys and from there into the gall bladder. All hairy parts that may have been con- tained in the original food will on their long way be chemically dissolved. The conclusion to be drawn is this - that from all scientific considerations it is clear that the rhinoceros horn cannot act as an aphrodisiac. This holds true for the horns of all rhinoceros species. The known difference in price between the horn of the African and the Asiatic species is without any foundation.
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Threatened species of rhinoceros in tropical S.E. Asia
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