The new calf, due to be born sometime in May next year, will join five others at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary (SRS), a 250-acre complex situated in Indonesia’s Way Kambas National Park. Here the newborn will receive state-of-the-art veterinary care and will become a vital addition to the sanctuary's carefully managed breeding and research programme. Captive births are rare for Sumatran rhinos and the new baby will be one of just five to be born in captivity.

The calf's mother (named "Ratu") was brought to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in 2005 after she wandered out of the surrounding rainforest. She was bred with "Andalas", a male rhino raised at the Cincinnati Zoo and specially relocated to the sanctuary as Ratu's mate. It was a successful strategy, and a male calf was born in 2012. Ratu is now pregnant with her second baby.

Although Ratu fell pregnant back in January, conservationists waited several months before making the news public. "We just wanted to be sure [the pregnancy] would take before we made an announcement because in early pregnancy any number of things can go wrong," Susie Ellis, director of the International Rhino Foundation, told AFP. The length of a Sumatran rhino pregnancy is around 16 months, so the world can expect to be introduced to the new calf early next year.

The rhinos are among the rarest mammals on earth. Although few poaching incidents have been reported in recent years, demand for Sumatran rhino horn has played a significant role in the decline of the species, and current estimates suggest there are only about 100 of these animals left in small, fragmented habitats in southeast Asia.

The IRF team, along with the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia, are spearheading conservation initiatives to protect existing wild rhinos, while continuing captive breeding efforts to learn more about the species and hopefully boost wild populations in the future.

Top header image: International Rhino Foundation

Paraceratherium

At first glance, this towering behemoth doesn't even look much like a rhino. That’s probably because it’s missing a very distinctive feature: the horn. Paraceratherium was a genus of giant rhinos that lived during the Oligocene epoch (some 34-23 million years ago). Among them were some of the largest land mammals to ever walk the earth! While these giants weren’t considered "true rhinos", they did belong to the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea, which also includes modern-day rhinos. Although the exact size of Paraceratherium is unknown because we have only incomplete fossils to go on, scientists believe they were about 4.8 metres at the shoulder and weighed as much as 20 tonnes (that's around five modern-day African elephants). 

Elasmotherium

Elasmotherium (meaning "thin plate beast") was another prehistoric giant, though at around three metres tall, it was no match for Paraceratherium. Its standout feature? One seriously massive horn. No Elasmotherium horns have ever been unearthed (rhino horns don't fossilise), but their skulls show signs of where these massive weapons would have once attached. Estimating the horn's size is a bit of a guessing game (but it's possible they were as long as a metre!). Unlike other members of the rhinoceros family, Elasmotherium also had pretty long legs, allowing it to run more like a horse. 

Woolly rhinoceros

It might not get as much time in the spotlight as the woolly mammoth (or the Ice Age fame), but the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) was just as cool. It lived during the Pleistocene epoch (some 2.5 million years to 11,700 years ago). Roughly the same size and weight as the modern white rhino, it roamed the earth during the last Ice Age in northern Asia and Europe, where that long, thick fur coat would have come in pretty handy (it probably used its horn for shovelling snow). Just recently, the remains of a baby woolly rhino, dubbed "Sasha", were discovered in the Siberian permafrost, the first time a juvenile of the species has been found. And the woolly rhino's closest living relative? The Sumatran rhino.

Teleoceras

With its squat body and short legs, this creature wasn't exactly a giant ... and it also looked more like a hippopotamus than a rhino – it even had hippo-like teeth. Because of these similarities, scientists long believed Teleoceras was semi-aquatic, spending its days wallowing in lakes and streams. However, studies have since suggested that at least some of them preferred to graze on land. Short legs meant they could eat grasses, while other larger rhinos browsed for taller plants. You’d find this guy roaming around North America and southwestern France around 17-4.5 million years ago.

As you sit at your office desk this morning, rangers in Kenya are scouring the country's Tsavo National Park in a race against time to find a young rhino calf caught in a poacher's snare.

The desperate search began late yesterday, says the team at Big Life Foundation, when a camera trap set up in the park recorded images of the male black rhino with a snare wrapped tightly around his neck. The animal was one the Big Life Foundation team knew well.

"Last year, poachers shot and killed this young rhino’s mother, hacking off her horns. He took a bullet in the neck that night, but somehow managed to escape into the darkness," says the conservation group in a Facebook update.

Wounded and alone, the youngster faced incredibly tough odds, yet managed to survive the ordeal, earning him the name "Bahati", which means "good luck" in Swahili. Thanks to camera traps set up around the park, rangers had been able to keep tabs on the lucky calf's progress, monitoring his recovery and watching his first hesitant attempts to form social bonds with other rhinos in the park.  

"Yesterday, one of the same camera traps provided distressing news – Bahati has a poacher’s snare around his neck. It’s a snare targeted at rhinos, made of thick cable that would have pulled tight around Bahati’s neck as he walked through it," says the team.

Although Bahati managed to snap the cable, his struggle to pull free has now embedded the snare deep into the skin around his neck. "[It] must have been a horrendous struggle," says the group. "If we don’t find him in time to remove the snare and treat the wound, Bahati will die."

Along with officials from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), as well as teams from THE TSAVO TRUST and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Big Life Foundation rangers are now scouring the area in the hope of finding Bahati before it's too late. Spotter places and a helicopter have also been deployed, but locating the youngster in the thick bush promises to be a challenge.

"It is heartening to see so many different organisations coordinating the search. This might take days, or it might take weeks. There is no telling what the outcome will be, but no ranger on the job will rest until we have found Bahati. This little rhino deserves every bit of help we can give him," says the team.

Tsavo National Park, one of the oldest and largest in the country, has been hit hard by poaching in recent years. Its iconic elephant populations, almost wiped out before in the 1970s and 1980s, are under even greater threat today, with entire elephant families being butchered for their tusks. Last year, poachers killed Satao, one of Africa’s most revered "great tuskers". The park's rhinos are also being targeted as Asian demand for their horns increases.

We'll be posting updates on the search for Bahati as they come in. You can also follow along using the hashtag #FindBahati.

*UPDATES:

From Big Life Foundation, posted late on Friday:

[The rangers] made a small breakthrough: tracks, undoubtedly belonging to Bahati. The tracks were fairly old, having been left sometime in the early morning, but were still a strong sign of hope, an indicator that Bahati is still alive. Buoyed by this success, the rangers pushed on. Eventually, they reached a patch of dirt with tracks showing that Bahati had only just left, probably after catching their scent. Because it was now too late to get a helicopter in the air, the rangers pulled back, so as not to frighten him further. Unfortunately, Bahati will spend another night with the snare around his neck. But to be so close to him was a big step forward. The rangers have narrowed down the search area, and will have a fixed starting point from which to track tomorrow morning, when the whole process starts again.

From Big Life Foundation, posted late on Saturday:

Three days into the search, the rangers did not stop until darkness forced them back to base. Bahati is still out there, but the rangers tracking him found many encouraging signs today, including fresh dung and evidence that he has been feeding. He also appears to be staying within the same general area, which helps to narrow the search grid.

From Big Life Foundation, posted late on Sunday:

On the fourth and final day, rangers set out at the crack of dawn to resume the search for Bahati.

Big Life and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) rangers started the day full of hope and optimism that there could still be a happy outcome; fresh tracks were spotted mid-morning and ground teams were sent in. Veterinary services and helicopter support from the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust were called in on stand by.

During the night, Bahati had retreated into extremely dense brush and sharp lava fields. Against all odds, the rangers managed to spot him in the distance and immediately called in the helicopter. A KWS veterinarian succeeded in darting Bahati from the air with a tranquilizer, then landed and rushed to his aid.

Tragically, the metal snare had cut too deeply into Bahati’s neck. The wounds were severe, and septicemia had already set in. Exhausted and traumatized from the ordeal, Bahati succumbed to his injuries and did not awake from the anesthesia.

We are all devastated by the loss of this special little rhino.

Through our grief, we are grateful that so many came together in the attempt to rescue one of the few rhinos alive in this small corner of East Africa. In particular, we thank the Kenya Wildlife Service and David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. We are also extremely thankful for the encouragement we have received from supporters around the world who bolstered our efforts.

Bahati joins his mother now … may they rest in peace.

Top header image: Marat Assanov, Flickr

Three critically endangered Javan rhino calves have made an appearance in Indonesia's Ujung Kulon National Park, giving hope to conservationists who recently established a rhino sanctuary within the park's borders.

As far as we can tell, two of the tiny tank-like beasts (filmed in April and May) are male, and the third (filmed in July) is female. "They likely were all born this year," park chief Mohammad Haryono told The Jakarta Post. "They were all born from different mothers, and both the parents and their youngsters look healthy."

Sadly, the calves increase the world's Javan rhino population to only around 60 animals – all living in Ujung Kulon. Because they exist in a single location, the rhinos are especially susceptible to threats from disease and habitat destruction.

"Natural disasters are also a concern," explains the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), who have been working to protect the park for 19 years. "Ujung Kulon and the surrounding areas were decimated by the eruption of Krakatau in 1883. Anak Krakatau is now active and if a similar eruption were to occur in the near future, the Javan rhino population would not be safe."

But no threat poses as daunting a challenge as poaching – something the IRF takes very seriously. The organisation's rhino protection units work tirelessly to protect the park's precious inhabitants. "We patrol and survey on foot, motorbike, and by boat to monitor Javan rhinos and other threatened species," they say. "We immediately remove any traps or snares discovered during patrols and investigate any illegal activity, including illegal hunting and fishing, illegal logging, and construction of camps or houses."

We're keeping our fingers crossed for the three calves, and hope to see them show up on camera traps in the future!

Top header image: AFT/screengrab from YouTube 

The short clip was filmed in South Africa back in 2013 when local conservation group The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) was testing out a novel project to help save rhino calves orphaned by poaching. The pup in the video, known as Duma, was honing his skills as an "orphan detection dog" at the time.

With poaching escalating to unprecedented levels, the EWT had been working on a number of initiatives involving the use dogs in the fight against poachers, from sniffing out wildlife contraband to helping rangers in the field. But the team was also hoping to add one more special skill to that list. 

Young rhinos are often caught in the crossfire when poachers target adults for their horns, and when rhino mothers are killed, their vulnerable calves (those lucky enough to survive) are left to fend for themselves. Many starve or are attacked by predators. If dogs could be specially trained to track down lost orphans, wildlife officials would have a chance to find the youngsters in time so they could be cared for until adulthood. The EWT team was also hoping to use dogs to keep tabs on rhinos after they'd been released back into the wild.

Duma (whose name means "lightning" in a nod to the white streak on his tail) was assigned to the trial project from an early age so he could become accustomed to interacting with rhinos and to learn about their behaviour. (Lesson #1: They're not always up for a mud bath, no matter how nicely you ask.)

In the clip, Duma's sidekick is "Ntombi", who was born prematurely and was being nursed to health by the team at EWT. The duo quickly became inseparable, playing and even sleeping together, recalls the EWT's Karen Trendler, a rhino rescue and rehabilitation expert.

Unfortunately, due to the high demand for highly skilled dogs in the field, Duma had to be reassigned to help with more urgent anti-poaching work, putting the orphan-tracking project on hold – for now. The EWT hopes to train dogs like him in future.

If you'd like to help the EWT deploy more anti-poaching dogs like Duma, you can make a donation here.

Top header image: Ted, Flickr

"The newest member of the herd was somewhat more of a surprise than we’d like, but at present, all seems to be going well,” curator Jamie Craig told The Oxford Times. "After almost 40 years of desperately trying to breed from our old group of rhinos with no success, we are delighted to now have had three calves since 2013."

The youngster, yet to be named, joins five other rhinos at the animal park as part of a European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) breeding programme.

Top header image: Ted, Flickr

Update August 27, 2015: Based on progesterone levels, Saving the Survivors confirmed on August 27 that iThemba - the rhino that survived an attack from poachers - was pregnant. Sadly, the stress of her recent ordeal proved too much and the baby did not survive. "We are now more determined than ever to heal her so that she may be able to have another calf in the future," Saving the Survivors posted on their Facebook page.

A rhino found earlier this month with severe injuries to her face has been given a chance at survival thanks to a team of conservationists who dressed the wound with a bandage made from elephant skin.

The 12-year old rhino was shot in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and left unconscious while poachers hacked off her front horn. It’s suspected that the rhino may have woken up during the gruesome dehorning causing the poachers to flee before fully removing her back horn. The rhino’s calf was also shot but did not survive the attack.

Wildlife surgeon, Johan Marais, who works for Saving the Survivors – an organisation committed to rescuing and treating injured species – was called to the scene to assess the wound. "This is a horrific injury and she must be in immense pain," he told USA Today.

After cleaning the badly infected wound, Marais and his team used sponges and dressings to fill in any gaps where dead tissue had been removed. Elephant hide was then placed over the wound and fastened with stainless steel sutures. The elephant skin was supplied by a taxidermist and obtained from an animal that had died of natural causes.

Nicknamed iThemba (which means "Hope" in Zulu), the rhino is the first of her kind to be treated with a "face shield" made from elephant hide, a hardy leather that could prove useful in treating these kinds of injuries. "We have been looking for a material that is strong, lightweight and pliable for us to work with it and conform it to the actual wound and to the face of the rhino," Marais explains.

Plastic or fibreglass face shields have been used in the past; however, Marais has found the material a little too rigid for the job. “This is the first time I have tried elephant skin, which is tough,” he explains, having also experimented with kudu and hippo hide in the past. The team hope that the durable ellie-leather will stand up to abuse when iThemba’s wound begins to itch and she rubs her face against tree-trunks or stumps.

It’s an experimental procedure, but Marais is holding thumbs that the bandage will last four to five weeks, and if successful may be an option for future surgeries. The team is already planning to use the same technique to assist a rhino called Hope that is recovering after being attacked by poachers in May this year.

WARNING: Some of the images below are very graphic in nature.

Bonné de Bod and Susan Scott are making a documentary feature film called 'STROOP' ('POACHED' in English) on the rhino poaching crisis. They were on location filming Dr Johan Marais and the Saving the Survivors team last week in KwaZulu-Natal. For more, visit the STROOP Facebook page.

With one rhino poached on average every seven hours or so in Africa, and over 500 killed for their horns in South Africa this year alone, the mission couldn't have started at a more crucial time. The project is being spearheaded by wildlife filmmakers and conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert, and also involves conservation tourism group andBeyond. The team hopes to have the remaining 90 animals safely relocated within nine months. 

"There are many factors that make Botswana ideal for these animals, including a ban on hunting implemented last year," they say. "There is also very limited access to Bostwana's wilderness areas. In the greater Okavango region, you cannot simply drive into the area undetected as roads are restricted."

And thanks to limited access by air, private helicopters (which are often used in poaching operations in neighbouring South Africa) also cannot reach its remote wilderness. While this is great news for the safety of the rhinos in their new home, it also made the relocation particularly tricky.

Weighing up to two and a half tons, adult rhinos aren't easy to pack into boxes and move across national borders. All said and done, the translocation process costs an astounding $45,000 per animal. "As a deep sign of appreciation, when he was released, one bull charged the container he had been cooped up in, putting a massive dent in it," recounts Dereck Joubert. 

The journey for these ten rhino pioneers began in various game reserves across South Africa, and involved a quarantine period during which they where monitored for disease and fitted with microchips for tracking. Finally, the animals were sedated, packed into crates and loaded into a cargo plane bound for Botswana. "Each animal was hand selected from reserves that are crowded or are facing intense poaching threats," the team explains.

It was a long ride, but the rhinos weren't alone: to deter poachers, they were escorted by 60 armed guards and two helicopter scouts. You might think that flying these endangered heavyweights would be the tough part, but things got even trickier on the ground: when one of the moving trucks lost a wheel along the way, a crane had to be brought in to transfer its unprecedented load to a new truck, writes Brian Clark Howard for National Geographic. 

Thankfully, after an immense amount of work and people power, the rhinos were safety released into their new homes – less than 24 hours after taking off from South Africa.  

The goal is for the translocated rhinos to form a seed population in Botswana, eventually expanding in number and genetic diversity. "[They will be] protected by the latest technology and a specialised anti-poaching unit," says Joubert.

"We are proud yet humbled by [this] opportunity," he adds. "Sad that it is necessary, but grateful to everyone that has supported us thus far, and hopeful that this small step in conservation is breeding hope for a species on its way back from the brink of an unacceptable extinction."

If you'd like to help the next group of rhinos travel safety to the Botswana wilderness, check out the project's fundraising website.

Top header image: Beverly Joubert

Thandi the rhino was one of three rhinos brutally attacked during a poaching incident in the Kariega Game Reserve in 2012. The only one to survive, she had to endure numerous operations to repair damage from horrific machete wounds inflicted by the poachers. But Thandi recovered – and, three years after her ordeal, she gave birth to a healthy female calf. The against-all-odds story inspired people all over the world and helped raise global awareness about South Africa's rhino poaching crisis.

As a safety precaution, Thandi and her newborn were kept in a secret, off-limits location, but proud reserve staff shared regular updates about the youngster's progress (and some adorable photos) on the Kariega blog.  

A rhino as symbolically special as this one deserved a name to match, and the little calf has just been given a very fitting moniker: 'Thembi', which means 'hope' in the Xhosa language, one of the official languages of South Africa. Kariega staff announced the name at a small ceremony at the reserve this week.

“The name Thembi seemed to fit best given that this little calf has brought fresh hope and energy to those who struggle to secure the future of our rhino. She is a new generation of life, one I hope will never experience a poaching incident like her mother...," says Dr William Fowlds, one of the vets involved in Thandi's incredible recovery.

He adds: “Thandi has changed my life. I can’t say it is for the better, as I could never wish to fight a war such as this one ... [But] she has inspired action in myself, and many around me ... She now celebrates life, and with it the hope that against all odds, we can and we will overcome the massive challenges that threaten ... the rhino.” 

Thandi the rhino was one of three rhinos brutally attacked during a poaching incident in South Africa's Kariega Game Reserve in 2012. The only one to survive, she's since had to endure numerous operations – including pioneering skin graft surgery – as veterinarians worked to repair the damage from horrific machete wounds inflicted by the poachers. 

Now, three years after the tragedy, Thandi's tiny new arrival has given staff at Kariega reason to celebrate. The birth took place early yesterday morning and both mom and calf are said to be doing well. "I am sure that the whole rhino caring community will share in the joy of this amazing birth. Thandi’s story has always been an incredible testimony of the will to survive against all odds. She represents so much of what her species faces under the current poaching crisis," says Dr William Fowlds, one of the vets involved in Thandi's incredible recovery.

The reserve’s veterinary team learnt of Thandi’s pregnancy in December 2013 after performing some blood tests. The gestation period of a white rhino is approximately 16 months ... and that's a very long time to wait for such an eagerly anticipated birth. "We have been waiting for this day since we first discovered that Thandi was at the end of the third trimester of her pregnancy ... It is incredible that the rhino we found so close to death nearly three years ago is now the mother of a beautiful calf,” says the reserve's general manager Alan Weyer.

In order to ensure the rhinos' safety and well-being, an area in the reserve has been designated off-limits to all park-goers. But even though the precious pair is being kept out of sight, we can still take a peek at the adorable newborn thanks to snapshots taken by WWF photographer-in-residence Adrian Steirn. "[Capturing] this incredible moment was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thandi's story has captivated the world since she became a beacon of hope in the fight against rhino poaching. To see her with a beautiful, healthy calf is truly a privilege and should inspire optimism and renewed commitment to protect these incredible creatures," says Steirn.

It's not every day that a rhino shows up in your rice paddy ... Staff at the IFAW Wildlife Rescue Centre were recently called out when a critically injured baby rhino was found lying in the backyard of a house in rural northeast India. Unable to move on its own, the three-month-old calf had suffered severe injuries from an attack by a tiger. After receiving some immediate medical treatment, the injured one-horned rhino was taken to the IFAW rescue centre for further care.

Despite deep, maggot-filled wounds on the calf’s head and legs, the young rhino is responding well to treatment, according to Dr Panjit Basumatary, a veterinarian who is leading the efforts to save the calf. The IFAW Wildlife Rescue Centre in India has dealt with 32 cases of displaced rhino calves to date, including three rhino orphans that were radio-collared and released into Manas National Park.

Tiger attacks on rhinos are not unheard of. Bengal tigers are known to prey on rhino calves and in some cases even adult rhinos make an appearance on the menu. Indian rhinos are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List, while tigers are classified as 'Endangered'.

Header image: Yathin S Krishnappa

The project is being spearheaded by wildlife filmmakers and conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert, and also involves an international group of conservation organisations and other partners. It's to be a rhino relocation on an epic scale, the biggest ever attempted. It's also an effort to create a modern-day Noah’s Ark for rhino genes.  

To find out more about the project, we recently chatted to someone who's been living and breathing it since its inception. Verity Sutherland, who is the Jouberts' personal assistant at Great Plains Conservation (one of the tourism and conservation groups involved), dishes on everything from the mind-boggling logistics involved in moving multi-tonne herbivores to her emotional investment in the project. 

Wildlife filmmakers and conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert have spent the last 30 years fighting for Africa’s wildlife. They often say: "Wilderness without wildlife is simply space." And while they have focused much of their efforts on big cats and elephants, rhinos have never been far off their radar. With one rhino being poached every seven to eight hours in Africa, they knew they had to do something about it – and do it quickly. Rhinos are a vital part of the ecosystem and to lose them would not only be completely devastating, as any loss of a species is, it would also negatively impact all wildlife in Africa, since they're an essential part a delicate ecosystem. What's more, poaching – no matter the species targeted – must be fought, as poachers who come for rhino horn will also take out any valuable or threatening animal in their path. When we fight for rhinos we fight for all wildlife in Africa, and when we take on a project to protect rhinos, we do so with the intention to create a protective umbrella for all wildlife in these wilderness areas. 

Nevertheless, there were certain triggers that led to the evolution of this particular project. Dereck and Beverly have been a part of a number of rhino rescues in the past and have witnessed the devastation of rhino poaching firsthand, as well as the positive impact of relocating rhinos to Botswana. Before this particular project even began, Dereck was being approached by desperate private landowners who could no longer keep their rhinos safe. Since then, the numbers of rhinos that we plan to save has gone up to at least 100, and we have teamed up with an equally passionate company, &Beyond, to make this initiative a reality. 

What are the time frames? How long will it take to move all 100 rhinos?

We have broken the project up into four key phases. 2014 has been a year for fundraising. Then, capturing, translocating and releasing the animals will begin early next year and take nine months depending on capture rate, seasonal temperatures, locations of release, suitability, flood waters for release locations and the readiness of top-level anti-­poaching teams and technology. We'll also be assisting after the release and carrying out ongoing community education and outreach. 

Can you tell us a little bit about the logistics involved? Moving one hundred rhinos is no mean feat!

You are absolutely correct. In fact, we believe it is the largest single translocation ever attempted. However, we will not be moving all 100 at the same time – that would be a logistical nightmare, and, most of all, it would threaten the safety of the rhinos we are trying to save. Therefore, we will be moving the animals in 'batches' of no more than nine or ten at a time. Each rhino will be sedated by the experienced capture team (including veterinarians), using helicopters and tranquiliser darts. The rhinos will be moved into crates and taken to well-protected enclosures where they will stay in quarantine for six weeks.  After this period, each group is flown to Maun in Botswana and then moved to secret locations in the Okavango Delta where they will be housed in temporary bomas (enclosures) and released slowly over a period of two weeks. Each stage of the translocation will involve military assistance to ensure the safety and protection of these rhinos throughout their journey.

Where are the rhinos coming from?

Unfortunately we cannot reveal exact locations for security reasons, but they will come from reserves, private and public, across South Africa. We aim to move only small pockets of rhinos from areas with the highest poaching levels, so as not to have a negative impact on these existing populations, while also ensuring that the gene pool is kept as broad as possible and that rhinos at the greatest risk are saved from poachers. 

What knowledge and experience from past rhino relocations is being taken on board with this initiative? Have relocation techniques evolved over time?

We will be drawing on the knowledge and experience of the best and most reliable experts in the South African game capture industry, many of whom will make up our core team for the capture, translocation and release. There is no point in reinventing the wheel on rhino translocation methods (as it happens all the time in and around South Africa), but we have decided to go the route that we believe will be the safest for the rhinos. Our partners on this project, &Beyond, moved six rhinos from South Africa to Botswana in 2013, so we will also be drawing on their knowledge and experience throughout the process. Dereck and Beverly have also been an integral part of a number of rhino relocations the past.

Tranquilising and moving rhinos over long distances can be stressful and possibly dangerous for the animals. What is done to minimise risk? Are these risks something you have to weigh up against the bigger risk of letting the rhinos stay where they are?

Moving large animals is never without risk – overdosage of sedative and injuries sustained during transport are always a concern and on average contribute to a 10% accident rate.  However, there is a robust rhino capture and movement industry in South Africa and the science behind it is very well known. Our translocation team is made up of translocation veterans who are experienced in every aspect of this operation. We will take every precaution to limit these types of accidents. 

We are also planning to fly rather than truck the rhinos, which (while more costly to the project) will mean that the rhinos spend less time in transit, reducing the chance of accidents and decreasing the stress levels. 

The rhinos we're moving are coming from poaching hotspots, and with around 100 rhinos poached in just over one month in South Africa, their chances of survival are slim if they remain where they are. We are in a catastrophic curve of rhino poaching as a continent and experts predict extinctions within five years. In fact, at a recent international rhino conference, 2017 was considered a plausible extinction date. We have already seen a tipping point this year (where rhino deaths surpass the rate of births). If we do nothing, their fate will be sealed. 

Our project is also about more than saving these 100 lives alone – this is a modern-day Noah’s ark for rhino genes and we hope that this 'seed' population does more than just survive ... we want to be able to give them a chance to breed naturally in the wild and flourish to ensure the future of the species. This small group represents only a very small percentage of the current South African rhino population (which stands at under 20,000 white rhinos and around 1,752 black rhinos), but they do hold the promise of making a significant and positive impact on those populations if moved to safe havens and protected.

The South African government recently announced plans to relocate up to 500 rhinos from the poaching epicentre of the Kruger National Park to safer areas. Does this suggest that it sees relocations as a good strategy going forward?

We believe the government, as well as the majority of conservationists in South Africa, see this not only as a good strategy, but an essential one. There is no doubt that moving highly valuable assets out of one dense and vulnerable pool as a way to distribute risk is a viable conservation method that is particularly relevant today for rhinos.

What makes Botswana so safe for rhinos compared to South Africa or another African country?

There are many factors that come into play, including a ban on hunting implemented last year. There is also very limited access to Bostwana's wilderness areas. In the greater Okavango region, you cannot simply drive into the area undetected (as roads are restricted). There's also limited access by air, and private helicopters, which have been used in poaching operations in South Africa, cannot access the area. 

Botswana also happens to be far away from the major exit points for illegal trade, like Mombasa in Kenya and via ports in South Africa.  

There is also the large number of anti-poaching patrols that cover the borders in key places (the country's military has a shoot-to-kill policy against poachers). Few firearm licenses are issued in the country and both night scopes and silencers are illegal, making access to poaching equipment difficult. 

Levels of corruption also come into play here. Reports suggest that it takes at least some level of corruption to smuggle a rhino horn: officials have to bribed and the risk of being caught needs to be reduced to make the smuggling division of the chain of illegal trade viable. Botswana was recently named the African country with the lowest corruption levels. Crucially, there's also strong political will in the country to grow and protect rhino populations. 

It’s reasonable to assume that moving a large number of rhinos could potentially attract the attention of poachers. What are some of the plans for keeping the rhinos safe once they arrive at their new destination?

It's unlikely they'll turn their attention to a country where poaching rhinos will be very difficult and risky for all of the reasons mentioned above.

Sadly, South Africa is likely to remain a hotspot as long as it has the highest rhino population in Africa (often fenced into small, high-density reserves, making them easy to locate), and as long as the potential reward for poachers continues to outweigh the risk of getting caught.

What are the ultimate hopes for this project? What would you like to have achieved once it’s all done?

For me, personally, this project is all about hope – for the future of the rhino and for those fighting the war on wildlife poaching, and to be a part of that gives me a purpose and drives me like nothing has before. For these 100 rhinos, our hope is that they will breed and expand in number in Botswana, while the mixed bloodlines will create stronger DNA. We hope that Botswana will continue to prove a safe haven for rhinos and other wildlife. We also hope that one day other parts of Africa will become safe enough that the descendants of these rhinos will help repopulate regions once decimated by poaching. It would be wonderful for South Africa and Botswana to further strengthen their bond through this project and for it to be beacon of hope for others around the world also fighting the poaching crisis. However, it is hard to think of any definitive 'end' to this initiative, as moving the rhinos is just one part of the process – the rhinos' protection and our work with communities that surround wilderness areas will be ongoing. But ultimately we aim to get to a point where we can stand back and allow the people of Botswana to become the rhinos' primary custodians and continue to protect this population and the future of the species.

How can the average person help this project?

There are many ways to get involved. The simplest is just to spread the word about the campaign with friends and family, and any companies that might be interested in sponsorship. You can also visit the Trevolta fundraising website. We hope to raise $8 million for the project, of which 40% will go towards the actual capture, transport, holding, quarantine and release of the animals. The remaining funds will be split between future conservation efforts and setting up strong anti-poaching and security infrastructure in Botswana. Every donation made on our campaign page is rewarded with a prize (from t-shirts and necklaces to fine art prints and even nights at the Great Plains Conservation camps). 

Other ways you can help: 

The Origami Army: When you donate just $1 on our fundraising site, you receive an origami rhino template. We're encouraging people to take origami rhino selfies around the world (and share them with the hashtags #RhinosWithoutBorders and #RhinoMove) to raise awareness of the campaign.

The Global March for Elephants and Rhinos: Join people from hundreds of cities across the world on Saturday 4th October as we march as one voice to raise awareness for elephants and rhinos. Find your nearest march here. 

Start your own fundraising event: Whether you organise a marathon or sell lemonade at the beach, get creative and help us raise fund for rhinos. To find out more about organising an event or fundraiser, contact Rhinos Without Borders.

Latest South African government statistics indicate that the country's rhino poaching figures are trending emphatically upwards, and debates on how the poaching crisis should be tackled rage on. One major debate that has divided experts is whether legalising the trade in rhino horn is the way forward. Here, Paul Newman, press and communications officer for the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), weighs in on why South Africa should not go down the legalisation route.  

It's nearly three full years until the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) takes place in South Africa.

Yet a propaganda battle – or charm offensive, if you're feeling expansive – is already under way in a bid to win over hearts and wallets if not minds to secure international approval for a legal trade in rhino horn, overturning a ban which has been in place for more than 30 years.

Edna Molewa, South Africa's Water and Environmental Affairs Minister, and her delegation were doing the groundwork for a horn trading mechanism at CITES CoP16 in Bangkok this March.

She was quoted in the press as stating: "We believe it is the right direction as one of the measures [to curb rhino poaching]. The model that we have is based on pure law of supply and demand. Economics 101. Our rhinos are killed every day and the numbers are going up. The reality is that we have done all in our power and doing the same thing every day isn't working.

"We do think that we need to address this issue of trade in a controlled manner so that we can at least begin to push down this pressure."

It's a stretch of the imagination to conceive that Molewa and her colleagues in Government aren’t seriously considering pressing their home advantage when CoP17 rolls into Durban.

And they're not alone. Private rhino farmers in South Africa comprise a powerful lobby, and have also begun to implement their own strategies to pave the way for legalising a trade in rhino horn, touting the move as the only viable way of saving the rhino from extinction in the face of appalling, and rising, levels of poaching (as of May 30, a total of 367 rhino have been poached – 247 of them in the Kruger National Park).

But, to paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies, "they would, wouldn't they?"

For years, many rhino farmers have been dehorning their animals as an anti-poaching safeguard, but instead of destroying the legally worthless horn they've been storing it in bank vaults in anticipation of the day they’ll be able to sell it, leaving some of them sat on stockpiles which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars if allowed onto the market.

The pro-trade lobby's arguments are simple enough, albeit freighted with a horrible sense of déjà vu: efforts to curb poaching are failing due to huge demand from Asia, so the best way to preserve rhinos is to flood the market with the huge stockpiles of horn via a well-controlled legal trade, thereby satiating demand it and undermining the black market.

There is just one major problem with this scenario – it's fundamentally flawed and won’t work, as history makes abundantly clear.

Much the same case was advanced in favour of allowing CITES-sanctioned ivory stockpile auctions to go ahead, undermining the 1989 ivory trade ban. And if the evidence of rocketing levels of elephant slaughter in recent years isn’t sufficient indication of the failure of this strategy, the evidence against it mounted even further recently when the Chinese media reported the conviction of a Government-accredited ivory trader in Fujian and his accomplices for their role in an international ivory trafficking scheme that smuggled nearly eight tonnes of ivory out of Kenya, Tanzania, and Nigeria.

This system failure was so colossal that even wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC, which officially endorsed China’s legal ivory trade system, had to respond in a press release: "The magnitude of these seizures is a shocking blow to the integrity of China’s legal ivory trade system and demonstrates the need for an independent audit to be carried out."

The fact is that a legal ivory trade has done nothing to stem poaching but has instead directly helped stimulate demand, confuse consumers, and provide the perfect cover for poached ivory to be laundered onto the market. Furthermore, it provided the Government of China with an opportunity to effectively cash in as it bought Africa's ivory cheap and sold it on to its own domestic carvers and dealers at a huge mark-up.

The ugly mercantile philosophy of 'sell it to save it' has had a spin of the wheel and has been a demonstrable, undeniable failure. Why should a legalised trade in rhino horn be any different?

With a few notable exceptions, it's fair to say that South Africa has a poor record of enforcing CITES recommendations and protecting its iconic wildlife. Under the guise of legitimate legal hunting, it has recently presided over the farcical and clearly criminal phenomena of 'pseudo hunting' in which middlemen arranged permits for Thai bar workers and other individuals to hunt rhino; the resulting 'trophies' could then be legally exported, most often to Vietnam.

And Vietnam is, by and large, the main driver for the current slaughter of rhinos.

Accounts vary as to how and why this is, but the story usually goes that sometime in the latter half of the past decade a senior politician or other public figure in Vietnam was dying from cancer and given weeks to live – but after ingesting powdered rhino horn, the condition miraculously went into remission and the patient fully recovered. As with any urban myth, attempts to track the story to its source have been unsuccessful.

It would have to be a miraculous cure indeed, since rhino horn is effectively made of the same stuff as your own fingernails, primarily composed of keratin and without any medical value; in short, it’s a scam of the kind practiced on the gullible by Victorian quack doctors.

In traditional medicine, rhino horn has been prescribed for just about everything, from curing demonic possession and warding off evil spirits and miasmas to treating hallucinations and bad dreams, boosting the body's robustness and treating typhoid, headache, feverish colds, carbuncles, boils and fevers. It has also been used to expel fear and anxiety, to calm the liver and clear the vision, as a sedative to the viscera, as a tonic and to combat infantile convulsions, dysentery, vomiting, food poisoning, drugs overdoses, arthritis, melancholia and loss of the voice.

More recently, horn has been found to be sold as a 'club drug', a hangover prevention and cure (again, unproven) for the nouveau riche; would the people of South Africa really be happy to see their rhinos going to meet such a utterly shameful use?

But medical chimera or not, the belief in the efficacy of rhino horn in Vietnam is unlikely to go away any time soon. Against a background of considerable environmental pollution – in part from the US military's widespread dumping of defoliant during the Vietnam War and in part from the country's own 'anything goes' industrialisation in more recent years – Vietnam has one of the world’s highest cancer mortality rates.

It also has only a handful of medical centres treating cancers, with widespread poverty preventing most people from seeking diagnosis, let alone treatment; it's perhaps not surprising that so many Vietnamese will take a chance on a folk remedy when they've no other choice.

So what message would a legal trade in rhino horn send out if South Africa gets its way?

For starters, it would effectively be legitimising a huge transnational crime, rewarding the kingpins and middlemen for their persistence in outlasting the forces of law and order.

Perhaps more insidiously, a legal trade would be tantamount to telling the Vietnamese what so many of them want to hear due to a lack of medical options – "Yes, you can now legally purchase and take rhino horn for your cancer or other ailment." – effectively scamming them afresh, but this time with the legitimacy of international approval.

Under a legal trade in horn, rhinos will continue to die to meet a demand for a 'miracle cure' that will continue to do nothing for those using it except let them continue to die also.

There's so much more the government of South Africa can do before it ventures down the road of turning one of the world's most ancient surviving mammals into a commodity as if it were no more than a head of lettuce.

For starters, it could publicly cremate all rhino horn stockpiles, sending a very public message to the people of Vietnam that it's worthless.

And it should be working at an international level to pursue and bring down the main players behind the trade with intelligence-driven operations, instead of seeking new ways to hammer the poachers – the most easily replaceable foot soldiers in the illegal trade – not to mention bringing pressure to bear on Vietnam and transit countries to expose official corruption and ensure their borders are more than lines on a map as far as smugglers are concerned.

South Africa is a long way from exhausting all its options in fighting the rhino wars – and throwing in the towel to cash-in on the desperation and ignorance of the Vietnamese should never have been on the table in the first place.

Top header image: Colin, Flickr

Over the past several years, South Africa's rhino poaching problem has turned into a full-blown crisis. Last year, the country lost more than a thousand rhinos to poachers, their hacked-off horns destined mostly for consumption in Asia as an ingredient in various traditional medicines. Those of us who experience this crisis through news reports, documentaries and conservation campaigns can only imagine what it is like be fighting the war against poaching on the ground. But for Sheelagh Antrobus, the coordinator of Project Rhino, an NGO dedicated to rhino conservation in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal, the immense difficulties, frustrations and horrors of this conflict are a daily reality. Recently, she shared some of those personal experiences with us. This is what she had to say: 

Yesterday I gave in to anger and asked, "How many of the bastards did you kill?" 

Sometimes – make that many times – I wish I could be Maverick in Top Gun, zooming in with guns blazing, an 80s rock song providing a blood-thumping backdrop to a Hollywood-style good-vs-bad orgy of blood and guts that saves thousands of rhinos from an excruciating death. In a different version of that daydream, I am the female version of Chuck Norris, dishing out high-fives as I walk into the sunset having saved a species from extinction. 

But in real life this will never happen - sorry to burst the dreams of armchair activists. The poaching war is dirty, secretive, driven by money and corruption, as insidious as a cancer, and obscured by things as ordinary as trees with leaves. After four years in this wildlife war, I still discover things that astound me: it’s a 3D jigsaw puzzle that changes shape daily. 

And that's why yesterday I gave in to my anger and asked: "How many of the bastards did you kill?!" The rhino security officer on the other end of the phone line was shocked. "You know we can’t do that, Sheelagh!" he replied. My furious answer: "Then it's time we did!"

The softer side of me utterly rejects the growing suspicion that aggression is the only way to fight back. "Violence begets violence" is the phrase my soul whispers to me in the small hours of the night. As I search for answers, images of safe, healthy rhinos drift through my mind's eye, their horns intact. I know that changing beliefs and mindsets is the real solution to this crisis ... but this is the hardest battle to fight.

The edges get blurred all too easily. Rhino poaching is an international wildlife crime: you have no idea how far and deep its tentacles reach. And when you do, your blood runs cold. I fear we'll never get the political and law enforcement support needed to stop it.

So much of the work I do is not dramatic – it doesn't involve catching poachers or communing with wildlife in the African bush. Much of my time is spent on the computer or phone: endless emails and calls, inspiring those removed from the real battlefield to help us, finding new ways to touch hearts and minds.

We’re weary. It’s been four years already ... as long as the First World War. Our troops are in a different type of trench war, one that is spreading fast throughout Africa. We’re fighting not just to save the rhino, but for something much bigger. At the same time, we’re fighting to change laws and human understanding too.

The weariness that comes with seeing no light at the end of the tunnel diminishes our hope and our determination. Just like in a military war, days and months of desperation have made us feel like we are a small handful of Davids facing millions of Goliaths. Who am I – a simple woman and mother, inexpert and with no influence in the murky worlds of politics, crime, intelligence and terrorism – to speak out?

Sometimes it seems like we're fighting to save the very soul of humanity. That might sound overly dramatic to you, but I’ve seen it firsthand: the frenzied, vicious, bestial attacks to bring a beautiful animal to its knees for nothing more than greed. 

And that's why the violent solution beckons. But I’m afraid of what I could become if I too gave in to the anger.

I know what is right. But I’m tired of playing by the rules.