Words & Photography by Raj Hunjan
Seeing animals in the wild out in South Africa was a life changing event for me. The only wild animals I was used to seeing were small birds, squirrels and foxes! Stepping off the plane in South Africa was a baptism of fire. I was invited to visit by a game reserve warden, Rian Ahlers, a good friend of mine who has followed his passion for rhino’s throughout his life. We dropped off my bags at his house and went straight out into the night to deploy the reserves two security guards and collect another two guards from a nearby property. The reserve was on high alert. It was a full moon coupled with a tip off from the nearby town – poachers were about! This meant our rhino’s had to be watched all night.
One of the white rhino’s had settled by the perimeter fence and so we spent most of the night with him. It was a stunning and unforgettable setting – a male rhino lit up by the moonlight and at times less than two metres away from my door on the Landcruiser pickup. His behaviour towards us was fascinating, initially very suspicious and displaying territorial traits, kicking the dirt with his front feet and exhaling loudly with his nose close to the ground. When he realised we posed no threat whatsoever he laid next to the vehicle and rolled in the dust eventually falling asleep. The reason why he had settled next to the perimeter fence was the presence of four white rhino’s on the other side of the fence, close to a muddy waterhole on the neighbouring reserve.
Whilst the first nights close contact with the rhino was so inspiring the harsh reality of poaching was constantly in the forefront of my mind. We had a bulletproof vest and a handgun in the Landcruiser. We were only with this magnificent animal because we were on standby waiting to hear a first gunshot and leap into action. The armed guards were also patrolling the fence facing the main tar road as it was the most likely place the poachers would hit (it is a monumental task guarding over 15km of fenceline!). I later learned that four rhino in the neighbouring property had had their horns removed in an attempt to dissuade poachers from hunting them. However in other parts of the country this has proved futile as poachers often kill the rhino anyway, partly to save tracking them again and partly out of pure frustration.
After four hours with the rhino (now circa 3am local time) we went for a drive around the reserve. The full moon was so bright we were able to drive without headlights. We heard hyena calling on the hunt for impala resting up on the edge of a plain. We also heard a lion pride, calling out to each other as they moved from a waterhole to a place to settle for the rest of the night. I will never forget all the sounds I heard on that night. This was just my first eight hours in South Africa.
The reason why I had made the trip from London was because the reserve is extremely special – it is the new home of twenty black rhino that have been transported 1500km by helicopter and trucks – please read more about how the rhino were relocated here –Amazing rhino relocation. It is part of the WWF program to increase the black rhino population. The reserve was chosen over hundreds that applied for the honour of becoming home of these black rhino. This critically endangered species is under significant threat. It’s horn is reported to be worth as much as £30,000 per kilo to buyers in Asia. Although it consists of just keratin (the same as human hair and nails), it is erroneously believed to cure cancer in some parts of Asia.
