Do rhino horns and elephant tusks grow back?

Rhino horn does grow back if it’s trimmed, unlike elephant tusks which cannot grow back once they’ve been cut. The difference here is the substance of the tusk vs. the horn. Tusks are made of ivory which is comparable in substance to a tooth. However, rhino’s horns are made up of keratin, similar to our hair and nails, which continues to generate throughout the animal’s lifetime.

Because of the difference in material and ability to regenerate, conservation efforts to save pachyderms from poaching greatly differ between elephants and rhinos.

Trimming Rhino Horns To Deter Poachers

Several conservation efforts around Africa dart rhinos to trim their horn in an effort to ward off poachers. As long as a horn is not trimmed too low, this is pain-free for the animal. Rhino horns have a bloodline, just like human nails. If we cut our nails below the quick, it’s painful and causes bleeding— the same can be said for rhino horns.

Conservationists have been trimming rhino horns as short as possible with the idea that if a rhino doesn’t have a long horn, it’s useless to poachers. This method is saving rhinos around Africa from cruel and painful deaths. The only downfall to this strategy is the continued effort of darting the same individuals once their horns grow back every few years.

Source: Save the Rhino

Many have posed ethical questions about cutting rhino horns because of how disruptive it can be. Darting the animal increases stress, and a rhino without a horn is at higher risk of losing fights with other rhinos, not being able to protect their young, and overall being more vulnerable to their surroundings. While not free of its downfalls, it seems dehorning is the best solution rhino conservationists have come up with thus far for saving wild populations.

But you may be questioning, if you can trim a rhino horn without killing the animal, why isn’t that the method poachers use? While it would be a more intelligent approach because the animal could then regenerate its horn for continued profit, poachers cut to the base, so it’s heavier and worth more.

Protecting Elephant Ivory From Poachers

Elephant tusks do not grow back once they’ve been cut because they are overgrown incisor teeth. With that said, conservation groups do not approach elephant tusks how they approach rhino horns. Methods such as cutting, blunting, or trimming elephant tusks is generally avoided because an elephant’s overall behavior changes when their tusks are altered.

This is primarily because they are left unprotected from encounters they may get into with other wild elephants, which could lead to severe injury or death. Because of these reasons, many elephant anti-poaching efforts are conducted by analyzing seized tusks, tracking poaching patterns, and monitoring programs.

Source: The Guardian

Interestingly, many elephant populations around Africa are now starting to be born tusk-less. This is the result of individuals with impressive tusks being killed early on, leaving the tusk-less to thrive. As individuals only with small or no tusks can reproduce, the coming generations will continue to have less and less ivory. While this may naturally reduce poaching rates, it’s a shame that wild animals are forced to adapt in drastic ways to survive humans.