How the white rhino population soared by 34,000%

Once teetering on the edge of extinction, the southern white rhino’s survival owes much to the dedicated conservation efforts of a single park, despite ongoing threats from poachers.

Today, the majority of these rhinos can trace their lineage to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park (HiP) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

In the late 1800s, the southern white rhino was nearly wiped out due to intense hunting pressures.

By 2011, thanks to the conservation efforts at HiP, the population grew from fewer than 50 individuals to more than 17,000.

Richard Penn Sawers, the park manager at HiP, describes the park as the sole source of the entire gene pool for southern white rhinos around the globe, making it a crucial sanctuary for the species.

This species holds immense significance in the conservation community.

A fresh danger emerged less than ten years ago when poachers began hunting rhinos for their valuable horns.

Rhino horns, made entirely of keratin – the same protein in hair, nails, and hooves – have been used in traditional medicine in countries like China and Vietnam for centuries.

Recently, rhino horn has also gained popularity among wealthy partygoers in Asia.

Highly sought-after horns

As Sawers puts it, 'Rhino horns are incredibly valuable. They're worth more than gold.'

He continues, 'The demand for rhino horn is extremely high, and our rhino population is facing significant threats right now.'

Consequently, the 96,000-hectare park, the oldest wildlife reserve in Africa, is once again in a fierce struggle to protect its rhinos.

While the park's rangers have long been trained to handle bush meat hunters armed with spears and knives, dealing with poachers wielding firearms was a new and challenging situation for them.

Sawers explains, 'The situation changed when international criminal syndicates became involved.'

He adds, 'The wave of rhino poaching seems to have moved south from northern Africa, where rhinos had already been eradicated.'

Although international trade in rhino horn has been banned for years, poachers continue to profit massively from its sale on the black market.

'There was a time when everyone believed the rhino wouldn't survive due to rampant poaching,' says Tumelo Matjekane, a project manager at Peace Parks Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to establishing transfrontier conservation areas in southern Africa.

To combat organized criminal syndicates, Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park was transformed into South Africa’s first ‘Smart Park.’

The reserve has been equipped with advanced surveillance technology, including intelligent fencing and camera traps, to detect and alert authorities to potential intruders.

Rapid response

'We treat this like a war,' says Sawers. 'In any conflict, rapid detection and response are crucial.'

The park has set up an intelligence hub, the HiP Nerve Centre, which monitors and analyzes data from the cameras deployed throughout the reserve.

'The camera traps are all connected to the internet, sending images directly to the Nerve Centre,' Sawers explains.

'We can pinpoint the exact location of each camera and the origin of every photo, allowing us to respond swiftly,' he adds.

The team utilizes a helicopter to quickly access target areas.

Recently, the helicopter was deployed just eight minutes after receiving approval, reaching its destination approximately seven minutes later.

'Without the use of this technology, it would have likely taken about two hours,' says Sawers. 'And by that time, it would have been too late.'

Sawers expresses great optimism about the progress made so far.

'We were losing 10 to 15 rhinos a month, but that has now stopped entirely,' he notes.

For Sawers, whose great-grandfather once served as a park ranger here, safeguarding the rhinos is far too vital to allow any room for complacency.

'Protecting the southern white rhino is absolutely crucial,' he insists. 'We cannot let it vanish. The thought of that is simply unbearable.'