A biotech startup is trying to end poaching by flooding the market with fake rhino horns

Rhino horns can fetch up to $60,000 per pound on the black market, more than the price of gold
A startup called Pembient is taking a novel approach: 3D printing rhino horns to flood the market and undercut black-market business

The world's last male northern white rhinoceros, a male named Sudan, died on March 19 after being euthanized due to age-related illness.

There are only two members of the species left in the world, and both are female, so they're unable to continue the population.

It's yet another sign that rhino populations around the world are in serious trouble.

Rhinos are among the hardest hit by the illegal wildlife trade. The horns fetch high prices on the black market — around to $3

hey're used to make elaborate carvings across East Asia and are also believed to have curative properties in some traditional Eastern medicine practices. Consumers pay thousands of dollars for these products.

Pembient, a two-year-old Seattle-based biotech startup, is trying to solve the rhino poaching crisis with a 3D printer and some clever economics. The idea is to "bio-fabricate" rhino horns out of keratin — the same material that fingernails and hair are made of — using 3D printing to undercut the horn market.

The horns are genetically identical to real ones on the "

People wont know whether theyre buying real horns or fake ones

Rhino poaching in South Africa, a global hotspot, has declined in recent months, but the problem is still dire:

A different approach to conservation

More than 90% of 'rhino horns' in circulation are fake (mostly carved from buffalo horn or wood), but poaching rates continue to rise annually," the organizations wrote in a joint statement.

The statement also argued that developing and marketing synthetic horns diverts attention from efforts to end rhino poaching, which is the "real problem."

The path ahead for rhino conservation

Markus has attended conservation conferences around the world, and readily acknowledges the stark difference between his approach and that of most traditional conservationists.

"While we both have the same goals," he said. "There's been a lot of friction."

Pembient is now pursuing some novel funding strategies to get its horns on the market.

In August 2017, the company introduced a cryptocurrency via an initial coin offering, called Pembicoin. The coin offering is an effort fund research into the bio-fabricated horns and gauge consumer demand, according to the company's website.

For every coin purchased now earns the buyer one gram of biofabricated rhino horn once they become available in 2022.

A version of this story previously ran in September 2016.