Best places to see rhino conservation in action (2024)

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

My fourth day on safari in Phinda Private Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, starts much like any other. First, there’s the welcome jolt of a pre-dawn alarm. I splash cold water on my face, gulp down some coffee and get ready. Outside my cabin, the tetchy crowing of hadada ibises is met by thunder overhead: baboons, charging across the roof, onto the deck and away. Nyala antelopes gaze out from the sand forest as I join my group and, together, we pad through the half-light to our open-topped safari vehicle. So far, so normal. But soon, normality will recede, and something extraordinary will take its place.

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We’re about to join a team of rhino experts in the field, so it’s essential that we’re up and out early, while it’s still cool. There’s a slight mist in the air, and the forest’s giant Lebombo wattle trees loom like ghosts over the track. Emerging into open grassland dotted with shrubs, our guide pulls up at our meeting place. Phinda is part of Munywana Conservancy, a stronghold for rhinos, and this morning we have the privilege of encountering some of the people charged with saving them from harm.

Munywana’s elite team of wildlife vets, ecologists and conservationists never wished to find themselves on the frontline of a war on poaching, but that’s what’s come to pass. In early 2024, Barbara Creecy, South Africa’s environment minister, confirmed that rhino poaching’s global epicentre had shifted from South Africa’s Kruger National Park to KwaZulu-Natal, withannual losses up 10% in 2023.

Despite campaigns trying to devalue rhino horn as a status symbol in parts of East Asia and debunk the myth that it has medicinal value, there’s not much sign of the black market collapsing. Faced with this bleak reality, AndBeyond, the conservation tourism company that’s managed Phinda since 1991, is doing everything in its power to safeguard its rhinos. In this beautiful reserve — a former pineapple plantation, painstakingly rewilded — every rhino helps keep the ecosystem in balance.

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Eyes on the ground are important, so every tourist has a part to play. AndBeyond does far more than just offering wildlife watching drives. It uses technology to monitor each of the reserve’s rhinos, requires its staff to have exceptionally high integrity and recruits local community members as intelligence gathers, security guards and tracker dog handlers, specifically to keep poachers at bay.

Conservancy warden Dale Wepener explains the operation that we’re to witness this morning. “Running a reserve has become a bit like shark cage diving,” he says. “You have to be well resourced, well organised and well prepared. Because if there’s a break in the cage, they — the criminals — will be in.”

Crucially and somewhat controversially, as a deterrent, Munywana Conservancy surgically removes the horns of each ofits rhinos once they reach young adulthood.

“Deciding we had to remove our rhinos’ horns wasn’t easy, but it’s quick, it’s painless and it’s worth it”, says Dale. “In the current climate, de-horning a rhino gives it a 96% higher chance of survival to old age.” The reserve’s chief wildlife vet takes great care to sedate the rhinos before proceeding; poachers, bycontrast, would simply kill them.

Briefing complete, the team take up their positions. Their target is a young male black rhino, singled out the day before. From the moment he sinks to his knees in the long grass — expertly darted from a helicopter — every second counts. This youngster has never been microchipped, blood-tested, measured, ID-marked and de-horned before, and there’s much to do.

Rushing to the scene in a fleet of 4WD vehicles, the team springs into action. Quickly and calmly, they check that the morphine-based sedative has taken hold, then shift the rhino into a comfortable position, inviting us forward to watch. Next, they soothe his senses with improvised ear plugs — a pair of loosely stuffed socks — and a soft eye bandage. Somebody steps forward with a jerrycan of cool water, and gently soaks his back.

Amid the flurry comes the whirr of the chainsaw and the scent of horn shavings: musty, like toenail clippings on a hot day. Quick as a flash, an ecologist stashes the horn for safekeeping; it’s destined for AndBeyond’s vault. Just as important, but just as hard to witness, is the clip of the ear-notcher, marking out a combination that spells out the youngster’s new ID number.

Encouraged to step even closer, I give the rhino’s warm, dusty shoulders a tender rub, feeling a knot of emotions inside. I’ve been lucky enough to see rhinos many times on my visits to South Africa, but nothing can compare to this. Drastic though today’s interventions seem, I’m convinced it’ll help protect the youngster from harm. And later, as we watch him scurry back to his mother, I feel hope blossom that here at least, I’m witnessing a black rhino destined for a long life.

How to do it:
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly direct from Heathrow to Johannesburg, while Turkish Airlines flies to Durban via Istanbul.
AndBeyond offers safaris at Phinda Forest Lodge from £1,370 per couple per night, including full board and activities, excluding international flights. Rhino conservation experiences are available on special request, in return for a substantial donation to funds that help protect the area’s wild inhabitants.

Published in the Middle East & Africa Collection 2024, distributed with the August 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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Best places to see rhino conservation in action (2024)

FAQs

Best places to see rhino conservation in action? ›

Best places to see rhino conservation in action. In South Africa's Eastern Cape, white rhinos roam freely in the grounds of Samara Karoo, a private wildlife reserve and safari lodge.

What are some rhino conservation strategies? ›

African Parks is creating safe havens for black rhinos by securing national parks and protected areas where they live, and reintroducing them to safe areas where they have gone locally extinct.

Where can you see the black rhino? ›

Selous is home to one of the largest populations of black rhino in East Africa. This western area of Namibia is home to the largest free-ranging population of desert-adapted black rhino. Tswalu Kalahari Private Reserve is home to one-third of South Africa's black rhino population.

What has South Africa done to conserve rhinos? ›

Some game reserves in South Africa have successfully managed to increase their rhino populations through a programme of skilful management, security and horn trimming. And now they're sharing their success with other regions, by relocating rhinos in sufficient numbers to repopulate areas where they had been wiped out.

Which zoo has the most rhinos? ›

Today, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has the largest crash of rhinos and the most successful managed-care breeding program for rhinos anywhere in the world.

Which state has the highest concentration of rhinos? ›

The Indian state of Assam is home to the largest population of greater-one horned rhinos, with more than 90% in Kaziranga National Park.

What is being done to conserve rhinos? ›

WWF is helping to tackle the major threats by strengthening protected areas in Africa and Asia, preserving rhino habitat, and helping to stamp out the illegal trade in rhino horn.

Can we save rhinos from extinction? ›

It's shocking that today, three of the five species of rhino are Critically Endangered, and two have fewer than 80 animals left. The good news is that together we can stop poaching and habitat loss, so that rhinos are no longer near extinction.

How do you stop killing rhinos? ›

Nothing will curb poaching while the payoffs remain so high, says Stiles. “There is only one solution, kill demand. Convince consumers that rhino horn has no medicinal value whatsoever.” He says the use of horn as a status symbol “needs to be attacked forcibly by creating stigma, as with fur coats in the west”.

Is there 1 white rhino left? ›

There are an estimated 10,080 mature individuals left in the world, and their population is decreasing. However, the northern white rhino subspecies is classified as critically endangered. Sadly, only two northern white rhinos remain in the world, living in Kenya's Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Are rhinos extinct in 2024? ›

Clip: 03/02/2024 | 7m 14s | The northern white rhinoceros is one of the world's biggest animals, and one of the most endangered. Only two are known to be alive, both female. But scientific breakthroughs are raising hopes for saving the rhino and perhaps even bringing other animals back from extinction.

Where can I see one horn rhino? ›

The Great one horned rhino is commonly found in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and in Assam, India. It is confined to the tall grasslands and forests in the foothills of the Himalayas. The Indian Rhinoceros can run at speeds of up to 25 mph (40 km/h) for short periods of time and is also an excellent swimmer.

Which country has the most rhinos? ›

South Africa accounts for about half of the total black rhino population on the African continent and is also home to the world's largest population of white rhinos. Currently, 2,056 black rhinos and 12,968 white rhinos are estimated to remain for a total of more than 15,000.

How many rhinos are left in Kruger National Park? ›

There are an estimated 2,060 rhinos left in the Kruger National Park after a decline in numbers of 16.2% during 2022 – despite a substantial drop in poaching.

How many rhinos are killed each day in South Africa? ›

From 1990 to 2007, South Africa lost an average of 13 rhinos to poaching each year; today, around 3 are lost there every day.

Where are most rhinos found in the world? ›

simum) and the Northern White rhinoceros (C. s. cottoni). According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), nearly 98.8% of the Southern White rhino population is found in four countries, namely South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Where are rhinos in America? ›

Although we think of rhinos today as living in Africa and Asia, they once had a much wider distribution. In North America rhinos were common, particularly in the Miocene Epoch between about 25 to 7 million years ago. Rhinos got as far south in North American as Panama, as shown by this lower jaw.

Where are the only 2 white rhinos? ›

Years of widespread poaching and civil war in their home range have devastated northern white rhino populations, and they are now considered to be extinct in the wild. Only two remain, both on Ol Pejeta Conservancy.

Where can I see a rhino in Florida? ›

Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros Attraction | CFZ Animals.

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