When it comes to protecting rhinoceros and other big game animals from poaching, conservationists must rely on a “toolbox” of ideas, wildlife veterinarian L.D. Van Essen told students on Thursday.

Van Essen, who works out of South Africa, said that while the United States government owns and manages wildlife and hunting, “In our country, [South Africa], wildlife can belong to a private individual.”

“You guys are fortunate in the U.S.,” he said. “You can view wildlife aesthetically. … It’s a luxury,” he added, explaining that South Africans can own whichever animals reside on their land. As such, many wealthy landowners stock their ranches with rare big game species, and the wildlife ranching industry brought in $1.5 billion in revenues in 2015.

However, Van Essen noted, South Africa is currently in crisis mode trying to save one of the classic big five game animals: the rhino. Approximately 93 percent of the world’s white and black rhino populations live in South Africa, but this population has become threatened due to the black market rhino horn trade.

An average of three rhinos die every day, many of them at the hands of poachers looking to sell their horns, which are used in some cultures as traditional medicine, according to Van Essen.

With their population dwindling from approximately 18,000, conservationists must educate the local people on the unsustainable harvesting practice and the horn’s lack of proven medicinal properties, he asserted. However, “It’s a belief system that’s very old that these products work. … Whether or not it’s wrong, it’s still part of their culture,” he said, likening the task to trying to get Americans to stop celebrating Thanksgiving.

Moreover, with the horns selling for around $70,000 per kilogram, poachers can rake in roughly $10,000 for each job, thereby allowing the rewards to outweigh the risks, he said. Hence, wildlife experts must think on their feet and be creative with the materials they have at hand, he asserted.

Any solution to the rhino poaching issue would involve a multi-faceted approach, he argued. “In 30 years of being in the wildlife environmental game,” he added, “I have never come across a problem that can be solved with a silver bullet solution.”

One option on the table is continuing to shoot poachers who trespass in national parks and enclosures to kill big game. However, Van Essen said that he does not believe this solution is viable long-term, because, “For every poacher I shoot, ten more will take his place, because the reward outweighs the risk.”

He added that bringing in the state military is a risky move, citing a 1970s ivory-smuggling ring that involved the Kenyan military and went all the way up to Kenyan First Lady Ngina Kenyatta.

Instead, he asserted, wildlife conservationists must dehorn rhinos and ranch them for their protection. Rhino horns — made of keratin like human hair and nails — can grow back within 18 months, but chopping off and sanding down the horn temporarily can protect the animals from poaching.

He added that the new strategy might be more effective than just a simple ban, which has only driven the trade underground. “In my experience, prohibition never stopped anything,” he said. “So maybe it’s time to try something new.”

“If I have to take a portion of the species and farm it like a cow to save the species, is it worth it? … That’s one of the tools on the table,” he concluded.