Rhinos wearing satellite tracking collars with spy cameras implanted into their horns could help turn the tables on poachers, experts believe.
The British-designed system incorporates a video camera, GPS, and a 24-hour heart-rate monitor that triggers an alarm the moment a rhino is shot.
Poachers caught in the trap will have no time to escape as park rangers are helicoptered to the scene of the crime within minutes.
Video footage captured by the miniature horn camera will then provide the evidence needed to secure a conviction.
The hope is that the technology, which could be trialled in South Africa in the next six to nine months, will act as an effective deterrent against out-of-control rhino poaching.
It could also be adapted for other hunted animals, including elephants and tigers.
Dr Paul O'Donoghue, who developed the anti-poaching system and has worked with endangered black rhino populations for more than 15 years, said a rhino is butchered every six hours in Africa.
"We had to find a way to protect these animals effectively in the field - the killing has to be stopped," he said.
"With this device, the heart-rate monitor triggers the alarm the instant a poaching event occurs, pin-pointing the location within a few metres ... leaving poachers no time to harvest the valuable parts of an animal or make good an escape."
Since 2007, rhino poaching has increased by more than 9,000-fold in South Africa alone.
Patrolling every part of the vast landscapes where rhinos live is effectively impossible, meaning poachers often operate with no risk of being caught.
Mammal ecologist Dean Peinke, from the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency in South Africa, said even with army patrols "poachers could find a way through".
"They are well organised and equipped, and they will find gaps in almost any defence because the rewards are so great," he said.
"These devices tip the balance strongly in our favour. If we can identify poaching events as they happen, we can respond quickly and effectively to apprehend the poachers."
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