Testing Blood Jewellry

Story courtesy of STROOP.

This rhino horn bangle was recently seized in a raid in Johannesburg… an undercover police officer does a basic test to see if it is rhino horn. Burned rhino horn smells exactly like burned hair and it is very difficult to get fake product to smell like this, as plastic will melt and buffalo horn smells different. This bangle was bagged and sent to the forensics lab where it tested positive for rhino horn. Light shone through rhino horn will show a pinkish colour, or “blood, blood-colour” as dealers told us in Asia.