Portland, Oregon, USA, Dec. 4, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There is a new face in the global effort to save rhinos from poaching. In response to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's call to action on Wildlife Conservation Day for a global effort to combat wildlife crime, Rhinoceros Horn LLC announced today of plans to provide an ethical alternative to rhino horn and so reduce the incentive to illegally poach rhinos. The company will fund the cause through funds raised on the popular crowd-funding site, IndieGoGo.com from December 13th and use the money to market a new ethically sourced keratin protein product to save the threatened and critically endangered rhinos in India and South Africa from extinction.
"People in Southeast Asia use rhino horn as a traditional medicine with a wide range of applications, including as a remedy for hangovers and other illnesses, including cancer," said company CEO, Huyen Hoang. "So poachers are killing rhinos and selling their horns in an illegal global trading network where their street value is higher than gold. By providing an ethical alternative we aim to reduce the incentive for illegal poaching and save the rhinos from needless slaughter. Rhino horn is made of a single protein called keratin. We've teamed up with the world's leading developer of keratin products, Keraplast Technologies, and using Replicine™ Functional Keratin® have produced a keratin protein powder that is biologically identical to the keratin from rhino horn. But unlike real rhino horn, Replicine™ Functional Keratin® is sustainably produced with no harm to animals and is proven in peer review medical publications to provide health benefits." Dr Rob Kelly, Chief Scientific Officer of Keraplast Technologies added "our Replicine™ Functional Keratin® technology allows us to isolate particular keratin protein fractions, including pure intact keratin intermediate filament proteins. This is the exact type of keratin that makes up rhino horn provided in an identical manner to how people currently use it, satisfying this market demand in an ethical and sustainable way. Replicine™ Functional Keratin® is the basis of a range of health care and personal products all backed by strong scientific evidence."
The company's president, also named Huyen Hoang, said "The rhinos can only be saved from extinction by curbing demand for rhino horn in Southeast Asia. This means we need to find an ethical and sustainable alternative for rhino horn. We've done just that."
Rhinoceros Horn, LLC, is a Portland, Oregon based start-up
company that provides a sustainable alternative to rhino horn. The
company is a social enterprise whose mission is to save the
endangered species of rhinos from extinction on Earth. Rhinoceros
Horn is privately held in Portland, Oregon.
Keraplast Technologies LLC, a privately held company founded in 1996, is the world's leading developer and manufacturer of keratin products. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, Keraplast manufactures Replicine™ Functional Keratin® wound care products with FDA and CE mark clearance for sale around the world, as well as a wide range of skin care, hair care and nutritional solutions using proprietary keratin technology.