It's been crazy, wonderful and chaotic. Here are just some of the things we'll always remember:

1. 30 Seconds to Mars allowing the use of their incredible song "A Beautiful Lie" in our summit video, which made everyone cry when it played at the opening ceremony.

2. Seeing no fewer than four rhinos in the wild, just driving to our camp (one sighting included a mom and her calf in the middle of the road right in front of us!). South Africa's Huhlwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve is AMAZING!

3. Sleeping to the soundtrack of hyenas every night ...

4. ... and waking up to elephants eating right outside our tents.

5. Speaking of tents: our tented edit suite in the middle of the game reserve. It was both sauna and wind tunnel.

6. Mentoring filmmakers-in-training from the American International School of Mozambique, who were also covering the event. They helped us tremendously with photos and filming some footage. They're so talented!

7. Our cameraman Tyrone getting bitten by a tick ... on his upper thigh (a.k.a butt cheek). We've put him under observation.

8. Our sound guru SK splitting his pants (nothing that some gaffer tape couldn't sort out and he was good to go).

9. Checking the showers and toilets for 'mfezis' (Mozambiquan spitting cobras) every time we had to go.

10. Someone tripping over a cable and plunging the entire summit into darkness during a very important evening discussion with the delegates.

11. Some of the organisers arriving outrageously late after getting stuck in the middle of an elephant herd on their drive over.

12. Interviewing wildlife conservationist Paula Kahumba (five months of stalking her finally paid off!). Check back for the interview soon. 

13. Meeting delegates from as far afield as Brazil, Switzerland, Vietnam, China and rhino-range countries in Africa – all coming together to discuss the rhino poaching crisis. Their enthusiasm and passion will hopefully have a ripple effect.  

14. And finally, this baby black rhino. We couldn't deal with the cuteness – or the heartbreak. The youngster was orphaned when its mother was killed by poachers and it's now being looked after until it's big enough to fend for itself. A stark reminder of just how vulnerable these creatures are. 

The Earth Touch team is back on home turf after covering the first-ever World Youth Rhino Summit (more on that here). The event was all about learning, debate, discussion and sharing ideas – all in the name of rhino conservation. But for our crew, immersing themselves in a cause so close to their hearts was also pretty emotionally draining. Our team producer Kirsten Horne looks back on the tears, lessons and intense moments.  

It's been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride for the Earth Touch team.

The World Youth Rhino Summit reduced all of us to tears at the strangest moments. And the tears were triggered by so many different things. Yes, we were stressed. Yes, we were working 15 hours a day. But it was definitely more than that.  

Even our cameraman had his moment, when our video featuring the 30 Seconds to Mars soundtrack played for the summit delegates. He was a mess (it might also have had something to do with the fact that he'd edited the video and was happy it was finally out of his hair ... but I don't think so). And his lip was definitely quivering during a speech by wildlife veterinarian Will Fowlds. And at the surprise arrival of renowned conservationist Dr Ian Player.

Our assistant producer Sarah turned on the waterworks more than once. During a speech by conservationist Paula Kahumbu. Then during our interview with Paula. Then while looking at baby rhinos orphaned by poaching (she cries a lot, actually, now that I think about it.).

The only person who put on a brave, stoic demeanour was our sound guy, SK. But I think he wears his sunglasses indoors for a reason.

For me, the tears came during an anti-poaching demonstration put on for the delegates. When a helicopter came thundering over us with such speed and urgency I was overcome with emotion. It suddenly hit me that these amazing human beings – these real-life heroes – were willing to risk everything to save just a single rhino in danger. It's truly extraordinary. 

I also had the privilege of spending time with one particular rhino in a boma (enclosure) during my time at the summit. I was alone with her and we just kind of hung out together.  How beautiful is she? And calm too (the other rhino in the enclosure kept showing me its butt, but this one was perfectly serene). You can see how aware she was of my presence. She was probably just curious, but I like to think we had a moment, this rhino and me. 

I have immense gratitude for the organisers of this summit. They are some of the most dedicated and passionate human beings I have ever met – they'll do just about everything in their power to stop the cruelty that is the illegal wildlife trade. What they have achieved at the summit is absolutely mind-blowing.

So many people do care about our wildlife. And seeing just how much they care has been profoundly moving for all of us.

Top header image: Valentina Storti, Flickr

Reporting from the first-ever World Youth Rhino Summit has been a moving experience for the Earth Touch team. More than 140 conservation leaders (aged 15-17) from over 20 countries gathered in South Africa's Hluhluwe-iMfalozi Game Reserve to learn, share ideas and spread awareness about rhino conservation – and to move closer to finding workable solutions to stop poaching and wildlife crime.

After an amazing opening ceremony (complete with Zulu dancing and drumming), the delegates were in for debate sessions and discussions, as well as presentations by several high-profile speakers, including conservationist Dr Paula Kahumbu and wildlife veterinarian Dr William Fowlds. Delegates also got the opportunity to visit the victims of poaching, both injured adult rhinos and young rhinos orphaned by poaching.

Aside from the summit's emotional toll, sweltering temperatures (topping 35°C or 95°F) were a challenge for everyone. But for local conservation organisation Project Rhino, the heat wave presented a very special opportunity: delegates would get to witness a very real demonstration of what being an anti-poaching ranger is like.

Summit-goers were loaded into vehicles and taken to the game reserve's airstrip (an exposed strip of land with no shade and no trees). Anti-poaching rangers don't get the liberty of taking breaks just because it's too hot outside (or too dark ... or too cold). Poachers often take advantage of challenging conditions out in the field – so it's at times like these that rhinos are most at risk.

Though this search mission was only a demonstration, it was performed with real guns, real machinery and in real time.

Our producer Kirsten Horne recounts.

Today on this airstrip, this is how things go down:

Lawrence Munro, the head of a local anti-poaching unit, gets a call on his radio from rangers patrolling out in the field. They've spotted two suspicious characters, possibly armed, in the vicinity.

Lawrence radios an anti-poaching aircraft in the area, giving the pilot the location details and asking for an aerial view. Suddenly, from behind us, a low-flying aircraft appears overhead ... and the radio crackles again as the pilot relays his clipped message:

"I've got visual on suspects."

It's the cue Lawrence needs to contact the helicopter. The distinctive sound of chopper blades is deafening as it sweeps in at high speed, barely clearing our group below. It's fast. It's furious. And it's dramatic. It flies over the poachers, 'herding' them in one direction.

When the poachers are in an accessible position, the chopper lands and heavily armed rangers jump out and give chase.

There's screaming and shouting and in no time at all the rangers have the poaching suspects on the floor, searching them for weapons. The men are disarmed and an axe and rifle are recovered. They're handcuffed and loaded onto a truck. From here, the legal process will take its course.  

Yes, this was just a demonstration. But the radio signals were real. The aircraft were real. And the weapons the 'poachers' were carrying were real.

This is exactly how things play out in real-life scenarios – and it's a stark reminder to the delegates that rhino poaching is not just a fight. It's a war.

This first-of-its-kind event is being held in South Africa's Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve, a place of great significance for rhino conservation: it was here that the white rhino was brought back from the brink of extinction during the last century.

More than 140 conservation leaders (aged 15-17) from over 20 countries around the world will be looking to find workable solutions to prevent rhinos from going extinct, and to stop wildlife crime.

Top conservationists and activists, including Dr Paula Kahumbu, explorer Kingsley Holgate and many others, will be there to help guide the youngsters, and share their own experiences.

We'll be keeping you up to date here, as well as on the Earth Touch social channels over the coming days, as we bring you the latest developments from the summit. As media partner we'll also be filming panel discussions, events and interviews with delegates, and sharing them with you and the world's media.

Our team has been feverishly putting the final touches to various video segments that will be screened at the summit as well as on the public video channels. Supported by many conservation experts, leaders and celebrities around the world, we'll share these with you and the summit delegates from Sunday's opening ceremony.

You can find more updates on the World Youth Rhino Summit website.

Top header image: H20 Alchemist, Flickr

60,000

If poaching levels continue to accelerate, Africa's remaining rhino populations may become extinct in the wild within just 20 years, according to estimates included in a paper published in the journal Science last year. 

775

The number of rhinos poached in South Africa in 2014 at the time of writing. South African poaching rates have been increasing exponentially in recent years, reaching a high of 1,004 last year, from just 13 (officially recorded) poaching incidents in 2007. IUCN estimates that poaching claims, on average, one rhino every 15 hours. 

0

That's the number of western black rhinos (Diceros bicornis longipes) left on the planet. Although this rhino subspecies once roamed across a vast territory that stretched across a chunk of the African continent, including Sudan, Chad and Nigeria, its populations were decimated, largely by unprecedented levels of poaching between 1960 and 1995 to feed demand for traditional medicine in China. By 2006, extensive surveys failed to unearth any signs of the these rhinos and just a few years later (in 2011), the IUCN declared the subspecies extinct. Today, several other members of the rhino family are on the brink, with fewer than 50 Javan rhinos remaining.  

40

The number of rhino horns, potentially worth around $14,6-million, stolen from a South African tourism organisation earlier this year. This was not the first horn heist of its kind: last year, 66 horns were stolen from a South African game reserve. Record horn prices have been compelling criminals to exploit every possible avenue to obtain the lucrative commodity, with horn specimens vanishing from several European museums and even private collections in recent years.

56

As of July 2014, this was the number of park rangers worldwide killed in the line of duty over the preceding 12-month period, according to the International Rangers Federation. 27 of these deaths occurred in Africa and 80% were at the hands of poachers. These were deaths voluntarily reported from 35 countries only – the IRF estimates that the global figure could be two to three times higher. "Poachers do not hesitate to fire upon our park rangers. In some countries they are involved in a bush war as intense as any modern conflict," says Gabon president and patron of the IUCN World Parks Congress Ali Bongo Ondimba.

77

This is the jail term in years recently imposed on a convicted rhino poacher in South Africa, one of the heaviest punishments handed out by the country's courts. Previous hefty penalties have included a 40-year jail term imposed on a Thai national back in 2012. Despite this, the Dalberg report notes that legal penalties are generally not aligned with the value of rhino horn, adding that poachers who are caught in South Africa "are apt to be fined about $14,000 while cocaine traffickers wind up in jail for five years". 

100

The number of rhinos that are to be relocated from South Africa to a safe haven in Botswana over the next year to create a 'reserve' population in the face of spiralling poaching levels in the former country. The ambitious project – Rhinos without Borders – was spearheaded by documentary film-makers Dereck and Beverly Joubert and will see the animals moved to a secret location in Botswana, which has the lowest poaching rates on the continent. 

8.8 million

US$5.8-8.8 million is the estimated price tag for a once-off dehorning of all the rhinos in South Africa's Kruger National Park, home to the largest rhino population on the planet. Dehorning is considered effective only when coupled with extensive anti-poaching, security and monitoring efforts. In addition, it needs to be repeated every 12-18 months as horns grow back over time (with recent studies claiming that the re-growth of dehorned rhino horn appears faster than growth in non-dehorned rhinos). These factors help explain why conservation groups say the tactic should "only be considered when absolutely necessary to protect rhinos which are exposed to the highest levels of poaching risk". Another costly and highly invasive (and controversial) anti-poaching strategy is rhino horn infusion. At an estimated $1,200 per rhino, it involves injecting poisoned dye into the horn of a live rhino, rendering it useless for medicinal or ornamental use. 

50 million

A truly ancient family, rhinos have been lumbering across the earth for around 50 million years. With poaching levels at current highs, we could lose these amazing animals in a minuscule fraction of that time.  

Top header image: H20 Alchemist, Flickr