The Giant Savers

Approaches to saving the rhino differ between India and South Africa, although the objectives remain the same

- Rathina Sankari

We sat quietly in the open SUV, under a falling dusk that was barely lit by a moon, at the Thanda Private Game Reserve in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The large watering hole 100 metres ahead would shortly become a hotspot for wildlife, claimed Buselaphi our ranger. Soon enough, I noticed a large figure lumbering towards the water, followed by two more. As they got close, I saw that they were enormous. But something was missing. “Where are their horns?” I whispered, agitated. “These white rhinos have been dehorned,” replied, Buselaphi, with a straight face.

South Africa’s response to rhinoceros poaching—it is home to 20,000 white rhinos and 5,500 black rhinos—is to surgically dehorn the animals, so that they are not of any use to poachers who sell their horns. Home to the two varieties of twohorned rhinos, the African continent has long been struggling to conserve these animals. The near-threatened whites are larger than the blacks, have a square lip and are grazers; the critically endangered black rhinos have a hooked lip and feed on leaves of bushes and trees. Rhinos are one of the Big Five animals that are sought out by tourists, and are also hot targets for poachers. And despite efforts, 728 were killed in 2018, according to the International Rhino Foundation (IRF).