Of course, such advanced technology is costly, the Peace Parks Foundation apparently contributed more than 10.6 million South African rand (around $600,000) towards the rhino protection program. “And by then it would have been too late.” “Without the technology, it would have probably taken in the region of two hours,” adds Sawers. It was recently deployed just eight minutes after being given the green light, reaching its intended location around seven minutes later. The team use a helicopter so they can reach targeted areas swiftly. “So, we know exactly where the camera is and where the photograph comes from. “They’re all linked to the internet and they send their photographs directly to the Nerve Centre,” explains Sawers.
The park even has an intelligence gathering base, the HiP Nerve Centre, which keeps track of information picked up by the cameras. “So, in any war situation, rapid response and rapid detection is key.” “We consider this to be a war,” explains Sawers. The reserve was previously losing between 10 to 15 rhino per month before the new measures were brought in. Integrated surveillance technology, including smart fencing, has been installed in the grounds of the reserve, along with camera traps to call attention to intruders. In order to tackle the organized criminal gangs, HiP was transformed into South Africa’s first “Smart Park.” “There was a time where everybody thought the rhino would not survive because of the poaching that was taking place,” says Tumelo Matjekane, a project manager at Peace Parks Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists with setting up transfrontier conservation areas in southern Africa. International trade in rhino horn has been banned for years, but poachers can earn a huge amount of money from selling it on the black market. “I think the scourge of rhino poaching migrated South from the Northern parts of Africa where the rhino had been wiped out.” “The dynamic changed because international syndicates were becoming involved,” says Sawers. While the rangers here have long been trained to deal with bush meat hunters brandishing assegais (spears) and bush knives, poachers armed with guns was relatively new territory for them. “There’s a very high demand for it, and we are experiencing severe threats on our rhino population at the moment.”Īs a result, the 96,000-hectare park, the oldest proclaimed wildlife reserve in Africa, has found itself battling to protect the rhinos once again. “It’s worth a great deal of money,” adds Sawers. Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park has brought in advanced technology to protect southern white rhinos from poachers. Made entirely of keratin, a protein found in hair, fingernails and animal hooves, rhino horn has long been used as a traditional medicine ingredient in countries like China and Vietnam.īut it’s since reportedly become popular as among wealthy party goers in Asia. Unfortunately, a new threat emerged just under a decade ago, when poachers began targeting the rhinos for their horns. “It is a species which has huge importance in the conservation world.” “All southern rhino throughout the world, the gene pool comes from this park,” explains Richard Penn Sawers, park manager at HiP, known as the home of the rhinoceros species. However, by 2011, numbers had increased from fewer than 50 to over 17,000, mainly due to the work at HiP. In the late 19th century, the southern white rhino was on the brink of extinction due to game hunting. Today, most of these rhinos can trace their ancestry back to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park (HiP) in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The southern white rhino has been to the brink of extinction and back, but even as it continues to be under threat from poachers, it’s survival is largely thanks to the conservation work of one park.
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