1 00:00:47,981 --> 00:00:48,777 Ok, there's the mother. 2 00:00:49,549 --> 00:00:50,311 Now look at this 3 00:00:50,550 --> 00:00:51,608 might pull the skin to the side there. 4 00:00:52,185 --> 00:00:52,947 Yeah. 5 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:55,187 This is a loft of. 6 00:00:59,359 --> 00:01:01,827 Right, shall we look for a place to land? 7 00:01:03,763 --> 00:01:06,425 Today in Africa, a bitter war is being fought. 8 00:01:06,666 --> 00:01:09,692 Both man and beast are dying... 9 00:01:11,004 --> 00:01:14,371 and the enemies are greed, corruption, and ignorance. 10 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:21,738 The battle is being waged 11 00:01:21,981 --> 00:01:24,506 over the black rhino, sought by 12 00:01:24,651 --> 00:01:26,380 poachers for its valuable horn 13 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,417 In the past 15 years, over 95% 14 00:01:31,658 --> 00:01:33,421 of the animals have been slaughtered. 15 00:01:36,062 --> 00:01:37,791 Each day, Ranger Dolf Sasseen 16 00:01:38,031 --> 00:01:39,828 patrols the Zambezi Valley, 17 00:01:40,767 --> 00:01:43,668 But for this mother and calf, he was too late. 18 00:01:44,337 --> 00:01:45,565 A lot of people would say, 19 00:01:45,805 --> 00:01:47,170 "What does the rhino do to the bush?" 20 00:01:47,874 --> 00:01:49,603 As a bushman you could turn around and say, 21 00:01:49,843 --> 00:01:52,038 "The rhino has been created by God 22 00:01:52,278 --> 00:01:54,337 as part of creation, we need it". 23 00:01:55,115 --> 00:01:56,480 To look at it, 24 00:01:56,716 --> 00:01:57,842 it's a beautiful animal 25 00:01:58,084 --> 00:02:00,348 and we can live side by side. 26 00:02:05,859 --> 00:02:09,625 You do not want to show to your children one day, 27 00:02:10,396 --> 00:02:13,388 How an elephant or a rhino look in a storybook. 28 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,100 That's not what life is all about. 29 00:02:16,803 --> 00:02:20,398 Life is not a storybook It is a reality. 30 00:03:31,811 --> 00:03:33,608 For 45 million years, one of the planet's most 31 00:03:33,846 --> 00:03:36,076 primitive mammals wandered the plains 32 00:03:36,316 --> 00:03:38,876 and forests of the world with little to fear. 33 00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:41,884 The rhino has few natural enemies, 34 00:03:42,789 --> 00:03:47,249 but that role has now been filled by man. 35 00:03:52,599 --> 00:03:55,568 More than 30 species of rhinocerous once existed. 36 00:03:56,135 --> 00:03:59,298 Today, there are only five, all endangered. 37 00:04:03,576 --> 00:04:05,806 In Asia, the Javan, Sumatran, and Indian rhinos 38 00:04:06,145 --> 00:04:08,613 are down to critical levels. 39 00:04:12,852 --> 00:04:15,650 In Africa, the white rhino is somewhat more stable. 40 00:04:16,089 --> 00:04:17,522 Closely confined in a few well 41 00:04:17,757 --> 00:04:19,748 guarded South African reserves 42 00:04:24,464 --> 00:04:27,490 But the black rhino is hurting towards extinction. 43 00:04:41,948 --> 00:04:45,179 Lf, as we say, in the early 70s, 44 00:04:45,485 --> 00:04:47,578 there were 65,000 rhino on the continent, 45 00:04:47,820 --> 00:04:49,378 We are down to 4,500 now. 46 00:04:50,123 --> 00:04:51,647 That's an indictment upon 47 00:04:51,891 --> 00:04:54,416 somebody or a group of people or nations. 48 00:04:54,661 --> 00:04:56,891 It's come down throughout 49 00:04:57,130 --> 00:04:59,121 Africa, this disease, this cancerous situation, 50 00:04:59,666 --> 00:05:01,258 plundering our wildlife of Africa. 51 00:05:02,935 --> 00:05:03,663 Through the years, 52 00:05:03,903 --> 00:05:05,336 the black rhino had already been 53 00:05:05,571 --> 00:05:07,198 depleted through much of its range. 54 00:05:08,107 --> 00:05:10,541 It is the recent wave of slaughter, though, which has 55 00:05:10,777 --> 00:05:12,108 devastated the animal. 56 00:05:13,346 --> 00:05:14,938 Starting in the early 70s, 57 00:05:15,348 --> 00:05:17,475 poachers swept through East Africa, 58 00:05:18,017 --> 00:05:20,850 all but wiping out the populations of Kenya, 59 00:05:21,087 --> 00:05:24,716 Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. 60 00:05:25,658 --> 00:05:28,183 Now, they have begun to threaten Zimbabwe. 61 00:05:31,898 --> 00:05:33,126 In 1977,the situation took an 62 00:05:33,433 --> 00:05:35,196 even more severe turn for the worse 63 00:05:35,435 --> 00:05:38,404 in Kenya's Meru National Park. 64 00:05:39,439 --> 00:05:40,997 In one three month period, 65 00:05:41,407 --> 00:05:43,773 the toll on the rhinos reached 53 66 00:05:44,677 --> 00:05:46,474 and rangers began to be attacked 67 00:05:46,713 --> 00:05:49,204 and killed by armed Somali poachers. 68 00:05:50,416 --> 00:05:53,044 Peter Jenkins was the park's warden during that time. 69 00:05:53,686 --> 00:05:56,382 When I went to the Meru park we had a population 70 00:05:56,622 --> 00:05:59,785 of black rhino between 200 and 250, 71 00:06:00,193 --> 00:06:01,683 and then in the late 70s we 72 00:06:02,028 --> 00:06:03,655 were hit by a different type of poacher, 73 00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:06,157 this was the shifta poacher with his automatic. 74 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:08,827 And when I left Meru '81, 75 00:06:09,068 --> 00:06:11,730 the population was down to about 25. 76 00:06:12,739 --> 00:06:14,229 Today, it's three. 77 00:06:26,853 --> 00:06:28,684 The beginning of the rhino's decline can 78 00:06:28,921 --> 00:06:31,151 be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century. 79 00:06:32,024 --> 00:06:34,322 Modern guns were introduced into Africa, 80 00:06:35,094 --> 00:06:38,757 And killing became easy, efficient, and popular. 81 00:06:39,999 --> 00:06:42,661 Some Europeans developed a taste for rhino meat... 82 00:06:43,469 --> 00:06:45,733 others hunted for the sheer sport of it. 83 00:06:47,106 --> 00:06:48,869 When a rhino charges a man that's nothing. 84 00:06:49,108 --> 00:06:52,976 But when a man charges a rhino, that's new. 85 00:06:53,379 --> 00:06:57,042 So here you see the tables reversed. 86 00:06:58,017 --> 00:07:00,110 We are now in a with rhinos. 87 00:07:00,620 --> 00:07:04,386 Osa dislikes rhinos more than any animal on earth. 88 00:07:04,657 --> 00:07:06,215 For years they have been 89 00:07:06,459 --> 00:07:08,586 chasing her and here was a chance 90 00:07:08,828 --> 00:07:10,796 to give them a taste of their won medicine. 91 00:07:27,814 --> 00:07:30,339 Mr. Rhino is public enemy number one in Africa. 92 00:07:30,650 --> 00:07:31,878 He's afraid of nothing. 93 00:07:32,118 --> 00:07:34,643 If your first shot doesn't stop him, good night. 94 00:07:42,261 --> 00:07:43,592 It is not hunting, however, 95 00:07:43,830 --> 00:07:45,821 that poses the great threat to the rhinocerous. 96 00:07:46,766 --> 00:07:49,257 Instead, it is the demand for the horn 97 00:07:50,203 --> 00:07:51,830 Ironically, the very feature 98 00:07:52,071 --> 00:07:54,039 of the animal that evolved for its defense 99 00:07:54,507 --> 00:07:55,997 may bring about its extinction 100 00:07:58,377 --> 00:07:59,867 Though hard and strong like bone, 101 00:08:00,246 --> 00:08:01,907 the horn is made of keratin, 102 00:08:02,148 --> 00:08:03,945 like the human fingernal. 103 00:08:05,384 --> 00:08:07,079 It grows throughout the rhinos 104 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,015 life at a rate of about three inches a year. 105 00:08:09,856 --> 00:08:12,586 On a full grown adult, it may reach over four feet. 106 00:08:16,863 --> 00:08:17,887 For thousands of years, 107 00:08:18,397 --> 00:08:19,796 rhino horn powder has been a 108 00:08:20,032 --> 00:08:22,227 treasured commodity in the far east. 109 00:08:27,473 --> 00:08:28,497 Ancient oriental tradition 110 00:08:28,741 --> 00:08:31,403 views it as an effective fever reducer 111 00:08:31,711 --> 00:08:33,338 and an indispensable cure all. 112 00:08:34,447 --> 00:08:36,506 The use of rhino horn as an aphrodisiac 113 00:08:36,749 --> 00:08:38,182 has been greatly exaggerated, 114 00:08:38,718 --> 00:08:41,152 and is found only in parts of western India. 115 00:08:43,356 --> 00:08:44,345 As early as the sixteenth 116 00:08:44,590 --> 00:08:46,854 century, rhino horn powder was recommended in a classic 117 00:08:47,093 --> 00:08:51,894 encyclopedia of Chinese medicine, tidely consulted today. 118 00:08:53,966 --> 00:08:57,265 The best horn is from a freshly killed male. 119 00:08:58,004 --> 00:08:59,596 Black is better than white. 120 00:09:00,439 --> 00:09:02,771 The tip has the most virtue. 121 00:09:03,175 --> 00:09:07,544 Pregnant women should not take the powder or they will miscarry. 122 00:09:10,016 --> 00:09:12,814 Modern medicine considers the claims highly unlikely, 123 00:09:13,219 --> 00:09:14,447 and almost all far eastern 124 00:09:14,687 --> 00:09:16,416 countries have officially 125 00:09:16,656 --> 00:09:18,453 banned the importation of rhino horn. 126 00:09:19,258 --> 00:09:21,783 Still, the local market flourishes. 127 00:09:23,563 --> 00:09:24,860 In the back street of Taipei, 128 00:09:25,097 --> 00:09:27,531 Bangkok, and other Asian cities, 129 00:09:28,167 --> 00:09:32,797 African rhino horn retails for up to $7,000 per pound. 130 00:09:43,916 --> 00:09:45,508 For the past decade the export 131 00:09:45,751 --> 00:09:47,184 of rhino horn has been banned 132 00:09:47,420 --> 00:09:51,015 in most African countries, but smuggling continues, 133 00:09:51,257 --> 00:09:53,316 to the dismay of conservationists. 134 00:09:53,859 --> 00:09:55,190 Back in the 1970s 135 00:09:55,661 --> 00:09:57,891 when there was very little effort to control the trade, 136 00:09:58,364 --> 00:10:03,301 the outlets were very diffuse indeed-going out on aircraft 137 00:10:03,536 --> 00:10:06,471 or boats and perhaps over land as well. 138 00:10:07,206 --> 00:10:08,935 But nowadays, I think that the 139 00:10:09,175 --> 00:10:10,608 routes have become rather more confined 140 00:10:10,843 --> 00:10:14,006 and most countries seem to point a finger at Burundi 141 00:10:14,246 --> 00:10:16,874 as the major exit point in Africa for rhino horn. 142 00:10:17,116 --> 00:10:20,017 So I believe a very large proportion 143 00:10:20,252 --> 00:10:21,685 must be going out from this one country. 144 00:10:22,254 --> 00:10:23,448 But we also know from 145 00:10:23,689 --> 00:10:27,785 countries like Zimbabwe and Tanzania 146 00:10:28,027 --> 00:10:29,688 that a certain amount of rhino 147 00:10:29,929 --> 00:10:31,453 horn has gone out in diplomatic pouches. 148 00:10:32,031 --> 00:10:34,761 It's almost certainly an international 149 00:10:36,636 --> 00:10:40,128 illegal network, if you like, involving corrupt 150 00:10:40,573 --> 00:10:43,872 government officials, corrupt businessmen, 151 00:10:44,310 --> 00:10:46,244 and corrupt politicians, and it's this sort of 152 00:10:47,113 --> 00:10:47,909 triangular Mafia-like alliance 153 00:10:48,147 --> 00:10:49,944 which has made it so powerful. 154 00:10:50,182 --> 00:10:53,049 It's not only affected rhinos, 155 00:10:53,285 --> 00:10:55,583 it's also affected elephants 156 00:10:55,821 --> 00:10:58,984 and ivory-the two are very closely linked. 157 00:11:05,431 --> 00:11:08,059 Throughout history, the port of Mombasa, 158 00:11:08,401 --> 00:11:10,665 many kinds of illegal trade. 159 00:11:14,306 --> 00:11:18,402 Rhino horn, leopard skins, gold, ivory each dealer has 160 00:11:18,778 --> 00:11:19,767 his specialty. 161 00:11:21,947 --> 00:11:24,848 This pile of ivory, taken from 500 elephants, 162 00:11:25,451 --> 00:11:27,919 was hidden in falsely labeled spice crates. 163 00:11:28,788 --> 00:11:31,279 It was seized by Kenyan customs officials 164 00:11:31,524 --> 00:11:33,492 while awaiting shipment to the Middle East. 165 00:11:35,361 --> 00:11:38,728 The route is an old one, for thousands of year, 166 00:11:38,964 --> 00:11:41,091 Arab dhows have sailed these waters, 167 00:11:41,333 --> 00:11:43,733 sometimes with valuable contraband aboard. 168 00:12:02,254 --> 00:12:05,121 In this way, the horn of countless slaughtered 169 00:12:05,357 --> 00:12:07,518 rhino have made their way across the sea. 170 00:13:01,580 --> 00:13:02,842 In recent years, the horn has 171 00:13:03,082 --> 00:13:05,107 often ended its journey in North Yemen. 172 00:13:06,152 --> 00:13:08,780 It is here that one more damaging twist to the 173 00:13:09,021 --> 00:13:11,216 black rhino story has been added. 174 00:13:15,995 --> 00:13:17,963 The oil boom of the early 70s 175 00:13:18,197 --> 00:13:20,927 created lucrative work for migrant Yemeni 176 00:13:21,167 --> 00:13:23,192 laborers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. 177 00:13:24,603 --> 00:13:26,161 For the first time, the workers 178 00:13:26,405 --> 00:13:28,396 had ready cash to spend on luxuries, 179 00:13:28,974 --> 00:13:31,442 including the ultimate symbol of vilirity, 180 00:13:31,677 --> 00:13:34,544 the rhino horned dagger, or iambia. 181 00:13:37,783 --> 00:13:39,546 The discovery of the new threat to the rhino 182 00:13:39,785 --> 00:13:41,116 was made by Kenyan-based 183 00:13:41,353 --> 00:13:43,344 geographer Esmond Bradley Martin. 184 00:13:43,923 --> 00:13:47,825 I first came to North Yemem in 1978 when 185 00:13:48,427 --> 00:13:52,591 I was doing a general sort of survey of the country 186 00:13:53,299 --> 00:13:57,998 and discovered at that time that perhaps 50% of all the 187 00:13:58,304 --> 00:14:00,772 rhino horn in the world was coming up here so Sanaa 188 00:14:01,006 --> 00:14:02,439 for the making of dagger handles. 189 00:14:04,743 --> 00:14:06,267 The rhino horn handle, 190 00:14:06,612 --> 00:14:08,443 once reserved for the aristocracy, 191 00:14:08,948 --> 00:14:10,279 is treasured far above 192 00:14:10,516 --> 00:14:13,178 alternatives like cow or water buffalo. 193 00:14:14,253 --> 00:14:17,450 A fine antique may sell for $15,000. 194 00:14:24,296 --> 00:14:27,663 When polished, the horn takes on an amber opalescence 195 00:14:27,900 --> 00:14:29,925 greatly admired for its subtle beauty. 196 00:14:32,371 --> 00:14:33,861 Esmond Bradley Martin began an 197 00:14:34,106 --> 00:14:37,098 international camaping to stop the rhino horn trade, 198 00:14:37,643 --> 00:14:39,508 encouraging the use of substitutes. 199 00:14:40,446 --> 00:14:41,470 After some 10 years, 200 00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:42,874 his work is showing signs of success. 201 00:14:43,115 --> 00:14:47,745 International trade has slowed in many eastern countries, 202 00:14:48,454 --> 00:14:50,319 and since 1985, the North Yemeni government 203 00:14:50,556 --> 00:14:53,719 has been enforcing a ban on importation. 204 00:14:54,660 --> 00:14:55,991 But it's not early enough. 205 00:15:00,766 --> 00:15:02,597 Where there is profit, men will trade. 206 00:15:03,736 --> 00:15:06,204 The middleman, by transporting the horn from the smuggler to 207 00:15:06,438 --> 00:15:09,930 the dealer, keeps business going briskly. 208 00:15:10,442 --> 00:15:19,680 I will buy for about $700 per kilo, and sell 209 00:15:19,919 --> 00:15:28,293 for about $1400 per kilogram, so I make a profit of 210 00:15:28,527 --> 00:15:31,291 about $700. 211 00:15:33,799 --> 00:15:36,359 The diplomats who smuggle 212 00:15:36,602 --> 00:15:39,662 rhino horn come mostly from 213 00:15:39,905 --> 00:15:44,467 Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Korea. 214 00:15:45,644 --> 00:15:52,743 I saw rhino in Nairobi. I like it. I like rhino. 215 00:16:02,895 --> 00:16:05,557 Despite the rhino's size and fierce reputation, 216 00:16:05,864 --> 00:16:09,061 it is sadly easy to track, find, and kill. 217 00:16:10,202 --> 00:16:12,295 Its thick hide offers no protection against 218 00:16:12,538 --> 00:16:15,029 bullets and its behavior 219 00:16:15,274 --> 00:16:16,639 patterns are too predictable 220 00:16:16,875 --> 00:16:19,139 to elude the determined poacher. 221 00:16:25,818 --> 00:16:27,513 In its simple daily routine, 222 00:16:27,753 --> 00:16:29,983 the black rhino uses its prehensile 223 00:16:30,222 --> 00:16:31,587 lip to tear off the leaves of 224 00:16:31,824 --> 00:16:33,291 the prickly acacia bushes 225 00:16:33,559 --> 00:16:35,151 and other scrubby plants. 226 00:16:42,468 --> 00:16:45,631 A solitary creature, it lives on a home range 227 00:16:45,871 --> 00:16:47,736 of from one to twelve square miles. 228 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:49,634 The rhino's territory may 229 00:16:49,875 --> 00:16:52,343 overlap with another of its species, 230 00:16:52,611 --> 00:16:54,943 but it is persistent in marking its range. 231 00:16:55,681 --> 00:16:57,046 The animals spray urine or 232 00:16:57,282 --> 00:16:58,806 track their dung across the 233 00:16:59,051 --> 00:17:01,417 area, and so, spread their scent 234 00:17:07,893 --> 00:17:09,155 Contrary to appearances, 235 00:17:09,395 --> 00:17:12,023 the rhino-cerous is a peaceful being, 236 00:17:12,264 --> 00:17:13,424 and only rarely takes 237 00:17:13,665 --> 00:17:15,929 exception to the occasional trespasser. 238 00:17:25,878 --> 00:17:28,108 Although it can hear and smell acutely 239 00:17:28,514 --> 00:17:29,811 its eyesight is poor. 240 00:17:30,916 --> 00:17:33,612 Help comes in the form of the oxpecker 241 00:17:33,886 --> 00:17:35,353 which serves as a lookout. 242 00:17:36,955 --> 00:17:41,790 In Swahill the oxpecker is known as"askair wakifaru", 243 00:17:42,227 --> 00:17:43,717 the rhino's policeman. 244 00:17:46,565 --> 00:17:48,624 When alerted by its tiny bodyguard, 245 00:17:48,867 --> 00:17:50,596 the rhino may panic and run. 246 00:17:51,336 --> 00:17:54,430 But since it is both curious and nearsighted, 247 00:17:54,673 --> 00:17:57,699 it may be enticed from the bush, sometimes fatally, 248 00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:01,277 by the human voice mimicking its call. 249 00:18:33,512 --> 00:18:36,538 The first man to devote his life to the study of 250 00:18:36,782 --> 00:18:38,807 rhino behavior was John Goddard. 251 00:18:39,218 --> 00:18:40,310 While living in Tanzania's 252 00:18:40,552 --> 00:18:42,144 Ngorongoro crater during the 253 00:18:42,387 --> 00:18:44,651 1960's, he developed a genuine 254 00:18:44,890 --> 00:18:48,382 affection for his lumbering, primitive subjects. 255 00:18:56,735 --> 00:18:58,965 Goddard was deeply commutted to his work, 256 00:18:59,204 --> 00:19:00,762 regardless of the hazards. 257 00:19:01,340 --> 00:19:03,934 Even a tranquilized rhino can be dangerous. 258 00:19:04,776 --> 00:19:07,711 Weighing up to one and a half tons, an adult bull represents 259 00:19:07,946 --> 00:19:09,470 a serious threat. 260 00:19:25,964 --> 00:19:29,695 Dentine joined in P2 between cusps. 261 00:19:31,870 --> 00:19:32,666 Watch it! 262 00:19:36,208 --> 00:19:41,111 Alright, P3 dentine almost joined between cusps. 263 00:19:41,346 --> 00:19:42,745 For seven years, Goddard 264 00:19:42,981 --> 00:19:46,439 carried out exhaustive field work, recording each minute 265 00:19:46,685 --> 00:19:49,153 feature of the rhino's appearance and behavior. 266 00:19:51,890 --> 00:19:55,451 Sixteen years after Goddard's own death at the age of 35, 267 00:19:56,094 --> 00:19:58,062 the number of rhino in his research area 268 00:19:58,297 --> 00:20:02,233 had plummeted from 108 to about 20. 269 00:20:03,035 --> 00:20:05,265 Many were the victims of poachers. 270 00:20:09,274 --> 00:20:11,765 In the vast expanse of East Africa's Savannah, 271 00:20:12,211 --> 00:20:14,975 protection of the rhino has proved impossible. 272 00:20:16,148 --> 00:20:20,482 Bob Oguya, warden of Kenya's Meru Park since 1983, 273 00:20:21,286 --> 00:20:26,155 has one plane and 30 men to patrol 350 square miles. 274 00:20:28,660 --> 00:20:30,355 The problem we are facing is 275 00:20:30,596 --> 00:20:33,156 that these fellows with their automatics, 276 00:20:33,398 --> 00:20:35,764 and our people with singly 277 00:20:36,001 --> 00:20:38,799 action 303s it is watch them 278 00:20:39,037 --> 00:20:42,598 and in most cases we lost them, because with their type of 279 00:20:42,841 --> 00:20:46,140 firearm and with our types of 280 00:20:46,378 --> 00:20:50,474 firearms they end up escaping our dragnet. 281 00:21:09,534 --> 00:21:11,900 The rangers are at serious personal risk from 282 00:21:12,137 --> 00:21:13,468 the armed poachers. 283 00:21:13,872 --> 00:21:16,705 Their camel patrols stay out for weeks at a time, 284 00:21:16,975 --> 00:21:19,910 in touch only by radio with park headquarters. 285 00:22:01,887 --> 00:22:06,017 Despite the men's vulnerability and outdated equipment, 286 00:22:06,258 --> 00:22:09,523 they are dedicated and loyal-even in the face of tragedy. 287 00:22:15,967 --> 00:22:19,368 In December we lost our sergeant to the 288 00:22:19,604 --> 00:22:20,832 poacher's bullets. 289 00:22:21,139 --> 00:22:22,299 We saw him die. 290 00:22:23,342 --> 00:22:26,311 Without adequate weapons we were helpless. 291 00:22:27,879 --> 00:22:30,507 Too many of our men have fallen 292 00:22:31,383 --> 00:22:34,443 because we could not defend ourselves. 293 00:22:36,455 --> 00:22:38,821 If we had automatics instead 294 00:22:39,057 --> 00:22:42,424 of 303s we wouldn't be losing our people. 295 00:23:14,793 --> 00:23:16,283 With the rhino population at 296 00:23:16,528 --> 00:23:19,395 such critical levels throughout Africa, 297 00:23:19,631 --> 00:23:21,929 every animal is important. 298 00:23:22,300 --> 00:23:23,892 In Kenya's Masia Mara Reserve, 299 00:23:24,136 --> 00:23:25,660 rangers mounted round the clock 300 00:23:25,904 --> 00:23:27,769 protection for this mother and calf, 301 00:23:28,006 --> 00:23:30,133 shooting several lions who came too close. 302 00:23:31,576 --> 00:23:34,272 Worried, the rangers moved the family to safer ground. 303 00:23:55,901 --> 00:23:57,732 The calf was better protected, 304 00:23:58,737 --> 00:24:01,831 but his mother kept trying to get back to her old territory, 305 00:24:02,073 --> 00:24:04,439 leaving her baby open to attack. 306 00:24:05,377 --> 00:24:07,311 The lions seized their chance. 307 00:24:09,581 --> 00:24:10,707 After the incident, 308 00:24:10,949 --> 00:24:12,780 the rangers turned to Daphne Sheldrick, 309 00:24:13,018 --> 00:24:15,145 who raises wounded and orphaned animals 310 00:24:16,321 --> 00:24:20,314 On one of the occasions that she was away the lions got in 311 00:24:20,559 --> 00:24:21,787 and they caught him and 312 00:24:22,027 --> 00:24:23,289 actually made a real mess of him. 313 00:24:23,528 --> 00:24:24,756 Fortunately, they were young 314 00:24:24,996 --> 00:24:26,759 lions and they weren't very experienced. 315 00:24:26,998 --> 00:24:29,228 But they certainly chewed him up very, 316 00:24:29,468 --> 00:24:31,026 very badly and he was dumped 317 00:24:31,269 --> 00:24:33,567 on my doorstep more dead than alive. 318 00:24:35,474 --> 00:24:38,671 I must say he's fantastically plucky little rhino. 319 00:24:38,910 --> 00:24:43,279 In fact, his mother's a very placid, dozey old cow 320 00:24:43,515 --> 00:24:48,509 so I expect this had made him have to be slightly more alert 321 00:24:51,423 --> 00:24:54,187 The first thing we had to do, of course was get a friend, 322 00:24:54,426 --> 00:24:56,792 because he'd been through tremendous trauma, 323 00:24:57,028 --> 00:24:58,586 so we got the sheep. 324 00:24:58,830 --> 00:25:01,424 They've been good friends ever since and wherever Sam goes, 325 00:25:01,666 --> 00:25:03,793 so the sheep follows and 326 00:25:04,035 --> 00:25:06,902 they play together and wander around together 327 00:25:07,138 --> 00:25:08,765 and he'll just grow up here until he's weaned off milk, 328 00:25:09,007 --> 00:25:11,635 and then we'll have to send 329 00:25:11,877 --> 00:25:14,004 him somewhere to be a wild rhino. 330 00:25:23,455 --> 00:25:24,513 Little Sam was lucky. 331 00:25:25,290 --> 00:25:26,780 These rangers saved his ilfe. 332 00:25:27,893 --> 00:25:29,986 Other rhinos have been less fortunate, 333 00:25:30,529 --> 00:25:32,997 poached by the very men paid to protect them. 334 00:25:34,266 --> 00:25:37,360 The shadow of corruption has fallen across much of Africa, 335 00:25:38,303 --> 00:25:40,794 and Kenya has had her share of officials 336 00:25:41,039 --> 00:25:43,507 who have cashed in on illegal rhino horn trade. 337 00:25:44,576 --> 00:25:47,943 It became so bad during the late 1970s 338 00:25:48,413 --> 00:25:53,476 that a major international scandal, Centering on the 339 00:25:53,718 --> 00:25:57,711 president's wife, erupted and as a result of that, 340 00:25:57,956 --> 00:26:00,925 The Kenyan government was so severely embarrassed 341 00:26:01,159 --> 00:26:03,559 that it closed trade in all wildlife products, 342 00:26:03,795 --> 00:26:06,059 and that did have a very needed effect 343 00:26:06,231 --> 00:26:08,995 on the revival of certain species. 344 00:26:09,234 --> 00:26:11,634 But the two species which showed no revival whatsoever 345 00:26:11,803 --> 00:26:15,295 were the main trophy species, elephants and rhino, 346 00:26:15,540 --> 00:26:17,371 and by the early 1980s, 347 00:26:17,576 --> 00:26:19,271 it became clear once again 348 00:26:19,511 --> 00:26:22,810 that major elements within the Wildlife Department 349 00:26:22,981 --> 00:26:24,744 ex-Game Department people, 350 00:26:35,860 --> 00:26:37,350 that is Perez Olindo, 351 00:26:37,495 --> 00:26:40,157 who was the former director of the National Park Service, 352 00:26:40,398 --> 00:26:42,889 and this has created a tremendous enthusiasm 353 00:26:43,435 --> 00:26:46,563 throughout Kenya, and we feel that this is just in 354 00:26:46,805 --> 00:26:48,170 time to revive 355 00:26:48,406 --> 00:26:51,170 what is our most important effort, and that is a major 356 00:26:51,409 --> 00:26:53,309 plan to save the rhinos in Kenya. 357 00:26:58,617 --> 00:27:02,144 The problem of human beings is everywhere. 358 00:27:03,088 --> 00:27:06,524 We have found people who are 359 00:27:06,758 --> 00:27:09,249 colluding with criminal elements. 360 00:27:09,961 --> 00:27:12,691 They have been prosecuted, they have been imprisoned. 361 00:27:12,931 --> 00:27:15,297 And I'm afraid that I cannot, and I will not, 362 00:27:15,533 --> 00:27:17,296 compromise with or collude 363 00:27:17,535 --> 00:27:22,529 with people who are out to do things that will 364 00:27:22,774 --> 00:27:26,835 harm conservation and wildlife in this country. 365 00:27:28,313 --> 00:27:31,282 We cannot compromise with sin, I'm afraid. 366 00:27:34,252 --> 00:27:36,618 The sin is not always hard to understand. 367 00:27:37,789 --> 00:27:41,555 Within the poverty stricken rural communities of Africa, 368 00:27:41,793 --> 00:27:43,658 there is a powerful incentive to poach 369 00:27:44,863 --> 00:27:47,798 A family may be lucky to earn $20 a month. 370 00:27:49,067 --> 00:27:50,625 Each member of a rhino poaching 371 00:27:50,869 --> 00:27:57,331 gang may earn $100 or $200 per raid a year's income. 372 00:27:57,509 --> 00:28:00,034 Although the big money is made by the middlemen, dealers, 373 00:28:00,278 --> 00:28:01,575 and corrupt officials, 374 00:28:02,347 --> 00:28:04,815 the pay is bountiful by local standards. 375 00:28:11,556 --> 00:28:12,955 One Kenyan who has fought 376 00:28:13,191 --> 00:28:15,125 against poaching in a very personal way 377 00:28:15,493 --> 00:28:16,755 is Michael Werikhe. 378 00:28:17,862 --> 00:28:20,353 Known throughout East Africa as "the rhino man", 379 00:28:21,132 --> 00:28:25,569 he has walked more than 1400 miles and raised over $60,000 380 00:28:25,937 --> 00:28:29,464 on his crusade to inform Africans of the threat to 381 00:28:29,708 --> 00:28:31,198 the black rhino. 382 00:28:31,576 --> 00:28:33,373 People are very hospitable, 383 00:28:33,611 --> 00:28:34,908 very concerned about my welfare 384 00:28:35,146 --> 00:28:38,741 not only my welfare alone, but even that of my snake, 385 00:28:39,384 --> 00:28:41,079 which is a very, very strange thing. 386 00:28:41,553 --> 00:28:44,021 Africans are very scared of snakes, 387 00:28:44,956 --> 00:28:48,722 and to have people showing so much concern 388 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:52,896 about an animal they fear so much is a very touching thing. 389 00:29:03,808 --> 00:29:07,642 Local people are just as concerned about the wildlife 390 00:29:07,879 --> 00:29:11,076 and about the environment just like any other people. 391 00:29:11,816 --> 00:29:13,750 And I think it is very important that 392 00:29:13,985 --> 00:29:17,921 wildlife awareness should be taken to the people, 393 00:29:18,790 --> 00:29:22,157 for it's they who have the final say 394 00:29:22,894 --> 00:29:25,454 and they are ready to cooperate, 395 00:29:26,297 --> 00:29:28,629 provided that they are given the right information, 396 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:30,399 the right encouragement. 397 00:29:54,058 --> 00:29:56,686 Even with the work of dedicated men like Werikhe, 398 00:29:57,061 --> 00:29:58,494 Kenya's war to save the wild 399 00:29:58,730 --> 00:30:00,630 rhino has essentially been lost 400 00:30:11,209 --> 00:30:12,335 Now, its best hope for 401 00:30:12,577 --> 00:30:14,704 salvation may be the fenced sanctuary. 402 00:30:15,747 --> 00:30:18,511 Although critics view them as glorified zoos, 403 00:30:19,384 --> 00:30:22,148 they are far easier to manage than the huge reserves. 404 00:30:23,021 --> 00:30:25,182 In some cases, it is private 405 00:30:25,623 --> 00:30:27,022 citizens who have taken up the cause. 406 00:30:33,598 --> 00:30:36,226 Solio Ranch, in the foothills of Mount Kenya, 407 00:30:36,534 --> 00:30:38,866 is owned by Courtland and Claude Parfet 408 00:30:39,437 --> 00:30:41,701 In 1970, using their own funds 409 00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,908 they encircled 15,000 acres with a high cost, 410 00:30:45,343 --> 00:30:47,436 specially designed fence, 411 00:30:48,246 --> 00:30:51,147 creating a haven for Africa's embattled wildlife. 412 00:31:27,318 --> 00:31:28,410 Over a ten year period, 413 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:32,447 they introduced 23 black rhino and 16 whites. 414 00:31:34,259 --> 00:31:35,920 Protected, the animals thrived 415 00:31:36,728 --> 00:31:37,922 In less than 20 years, 416 00:31:38,196 --> 00:31:40,528 the number of black rhino had quadrupled. 417 00:31:42,166 --> 00:31:45,829 Now Solio had a most unusual problem overpopulation. 418 00:31:47,005 --> 00:31:49,269 The Parfets gave 15 of the black rhino 419 00:31:49,507 --> 00:31:52,169 the Kenyan government's first enclosed sanctuary, 420 00:31:52,911 --> 00:31:54,378 at Nakuru National Park. 421 00:31:56,247 --> 00:31:57,544 Transporting the animals to 422 00:31:57,782 --> 00:31:59,340 their new new home is a huge undertaking. 423 00:32:00,385 --> 00:32:02,717 The selected rhino are located from the air. 424 00:32:10,628 --> 00:32:12,721 Okay, dart is in. Keep it in sight. 425 00:32:13,564 --> 00:32:14,258 It's running south. 426 00:32:14,933 --> 00:32:18,266 A vet walks to within 40 feet of the unsuspecting animal 427 00:32:18,503 --> 00:32:20,471 before using his tranquilizer gun. 428 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:30,245 A new, fast acting drug brings 429 00:32:30,481 --> 00:32:33,177 the rhinocerous down in minutes, but great care must be 430 00:32:33,418 --> 00:32:35,943 taken to prevent it from injuring itself. 431 00:32:37,121 --> 00:32:38,019 A second injection of 432 00:32:38,323 --> 00:32:39,950 antibiotics prevents infections 433 00:32:40,191 --> 00:32:41,852 in the dart gun wound. 434 00:34:44,515 --> 00:34:47,075 Though unceremonious, this rhino's 435 00:34:47,318 --> 00:34:49,411 awakening is the next step in his relocation. 436 00:35:22,753 --> 00:35:24,414 The animals are kept in holding pens 437 00:35:24,655 --> 00:35:27,681 for about two weeks to overcome the stress of capture. 438 00:35:28,392 --> 00:35:29,791 Soon, though, this young bull 439 00:35:30,027 --> 00:35:32,052 will be in stalled among the 440 00:35:32,296 --> 00:35:33,820 tourists and flamingos of Nakuru. 441 00:36:30,388 --> 00:36:32,413 It has been a long and difficult jiourney for him, 442 00:36:33,257 --> 00:36:34,349 but it is here that he can do 443 00:36:34,592 --> 00:36:37,152 the most to help save his species. 444 00:36:58,816 --> 00:37:00,306 Although the rhino may be well 445 00:37:00,551 --> 00:37:02,314 protected in fenced sanctuaries, 446 00:37:02,820 --> 00:37:06,654 the situation creates another problem-inbreeding. 447 00:37:07,391 --> 00:37:10,519 Wildlife biologist Rob Brett lives and works in Kenya 448 00:37:10,761 --> 00:37:13,423 on a remote private reserve. 449 00:37:13,664 --> 00:37:17,100 He is closely observing the animals in an effort to find a solution. 450 00:37:18,102 --> 00:37:21,833 Although rhino have been known about, wondered at, admired, 451 00:37:22,073 --> 00:37:24,803 hated for such a long period, We know virtually nothing 452 00:37:25,042 --> 00:37:26,737 about their breeding. 453 00:37:27,345 --> 00:37:29,609 Such basic things as what turns a rhino on, 454 00:37:30,314 --> 00:37:32,544 what makes them breed at optimum rates 455 00:37:33,150 --> 00:37:34,742 It's crucial that we find out 456 00:37:34,986 --> 00:37:37,477 as much about this sort of behavior of rhino 457 00:37:37,722 --> 00:37:39,212 in order to conserve them 458 00:37:39,457 --> 00:37:40,947 under the new conditions that exist. 459 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,160 Their favorite habitat is bush, they are generally nocturnal, 460 00:37:46,497 --> 00:37:48,226 they spend most of the day asleep. 461 00:37:48,599 --> 00:37:50,624 And, to observe the nitty gritty of rhino 462 00:37:50,868 --> 00:37:54,167 sexual behavior takes first of all a lot of patience, 463 00:37:54,705 --> 00:37:56,002 and a great deal of interest. 464 00:37:59,977 --> 00:38:02,036 It's really ploying the minimum of equipment 465 00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:05,909 a mixture between very low tech, lf you like, work, 466 00:38:06,150 --> 00:38:11,110 and very high tech. 467 00:38:11,355 --> 00:38:12,879 I am out at dawn every morning 468 00:38:13,124 --> 00:38:15,786 looking for individual rhino from which to take data. 469 00:38:19,864 --> 00:38:21,923 So well does Brett know this 470 00:38:22,233 --> 00:38:24,633 subjects that he can identify every rhino 471 00:38:25,036 --> 00:38:27,470 on the reserve from the lines and wrinkles of its footprint 472 00:38:31,909 --> 00:38:34,400 He takes urine samples left from each animal 473 00:38:34,645 --> 00:38:38,012 to determine their hormonal levels, ldentifying the 474 00:38:38,249 --> 00:38:40,513 pregnant females and dominant males. 475 00:38:44,155 --> 00:38:45,122 While the black rhino is 476 00:38:45,356 --> 00:38:47,517 extremely secretive about its mating habits, 477 00:38:48,326 --> 00:38:49,588 the white rhino, like these 478 00:38:49,827 --> 00:38:52,193 on Solio Ranch, are less inhibited. 479 00:38:58,636 --> 00:39:00,763 This dominant male has asserted his influence... 480 00:39:01,439 --> 00:39:04,499 And now begins his courtship, which may last for many days. 481 00:39:06,510 --> 00:39:09,877 He approaches the female and rests his head on her rump. 482 00:39:12,616 --> 00:39:14,948 His interest may not be initially returned. 483 00:39:43,781 --> 00:39:47,217 But his persistence eventually pays off and mating occurs, 484 00:39:47,618 --> 00:39:49,950 sometimes lasting over an hour 485 00:40:13,177 --> 00:40:16,544 Although rhinos are not monogamous, the female usually 486 00:40:16,781 --> 00:40:19,511 mates with the dominant male in the area. 487 00:40:19,884 --> 00:40:23,877 Afterwards, the pair go their separate ways. 488 00:40:25,523 --> 00:40:27,184 If impregnated, the female will not give birth 489 00:40:27,425 --> 00:40:30,189 for approximately 16 to 18 months, delivering 490 00:40:30,461 --> 00:40:32,361 only one calf at a time. 491 00:40:33,664 --> 00:40:36,895 A newborn rhino, which weighs up to 120 pounds, 492 00:40:37,601 --> 00:40:39,000 will stay close to its mother 493 00:40:39,236 --> 00:40:42,797 until she has a new calf for some two to four years. 494 00:41:17,274 --> 00:41:20,607 The rhinocerous, slow to reproduce and quick to die, 495 00:41:21,512 --> 00:41:23,173 faces an uphill struggle. 496 00:41:24,381 --> 00:41:26,212 In the wild, there are so few 497 00:41:26,450 --> 00:41:28,975 left that some never find a suitable mate. 498 00:41:29,653 --> 00:41:33,145 In Kenya and elsewhere, the fight becomes increasingly 499 00:41:33,491 --> 00:41:35,118 grim and ever more complex. 500 00:41:36,260 --> 00:41:39,525 It can be argued that the numbers of rhino are very low, 501 00:41:39,797 --> 00:41:40,821 but I think it would be 502 00:41:41,065 --> 00:41:44,057 negligence on behalf of the world 503 00:41:44,301 --> 00:41:46,531 to just turn their backs on this country now and say, 504 00:41:46,770 --> 00:41:49,500 "All is lost. There are only 400 rhino left, 505 00:41:49,740 --> 00:41:50,468 they're not worth saving." 506 00:41:51,275 --> 00:41:55,769 We have had long years of experience with poaching, 507 00:41:56,981 --> 00:42:00,712 which is what Zimbabwe's having now armed poachers. 508 00:42:00,951 --> 00:42:02,885 Zimbabwe's getting it for the first time. 509 00:42:03,587 --> 00:42:05,851 I wonder whether they're 510 00:42:06,090 --> 00:42:08,456 actually gong to be able to save their rhino 511 00:42:08,759 --> 00:42:12,354 by just having armed patrols and shootouts. 512 00:42:14,331 --> 00:42:16,492 I know in Kenya that they're fighting armed gangs there, 513 00:42:16,734 --> 00:42:19,066 and there are contacts taking place. 514 00:42:19,303 --> 00:42:21,828 But we have, right from the onset, taken on this task 515 00:42:22,072 --> 00:42:24,040 as a war and not a conservation exercise 516 00:42:24,275 --> 00:42:26,766 purely and simply. 517 00:42:53,571 --> 00:42:56,131 The situation bears a more than passing resemblance 518 00:42:56,373 --> 00:42:58,068 to full fledged guerrilla combat... 519 00:42:59,176 --> 00:43:01,201 It is a deadly serious mission 520 00:43:05,616 --> 00:43:08,517 Glenn Tatham commands Operation Stronghold 521 00:43:08,819 --> 00:43:11,720 from a camp on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, 522 00:43:12,289 --> 00:43:14,052 where he protects the last 523 00:43:14,291 --> 00:43:16,486 large wild rhino population left in the world. 524 00:43:18,028 --> 00:43:20,929 The project involved moving 250 rhino, 525 00:43:21,165 --> 00:43:23,224 one third of the valley's population, 526 00:43:23,767 --> 00:43:24,665 to safer ground. 527 00:43:25,936 --> 00:43:28,404 The fight to protect the rest is a desperate one. 528 00:43:31,542 --> 00:43:34,170 Rangers live year round in camp with their families. 529 00:43:34,812 --> 00:43:38,475 Who realize that some of the men may die in armed conflict. 530 00:43:39,850 --> 00:43:41,943 What we're doing here is to fight the poachers. 531 00:43:43,053 --> 00:43:44,782 Every day that a group of poachers are in here, 532 00:43:45,055 --> 00:43:47,080 they are potentially able to 533 00:43:47,358 --> 00:43:49,155 kill two or three or maybe even four rhino. 534 00:43:49,460 --> 00:43:50,484 One group killed six rhino one morning here, 535 00:43:50,728 --> 00:43:53,094 here in the Zambezi Valley. 536 00:43:53,530 --> 00:43:56,590 To our north is Zambia, and these poachers are 537 00:43:56,834 --> 00:43:59,803 crossing from there to here. 538 00:44:00,804 --> 00:44:03,295 The river is the international boundary 539 00:44:03,540 --> 00:44:05,906 but there is no barrier as such. 540 00:44:06,176 --> 00:44:09,111 There's two border posts on that section of the river. 541 00:44:09,346 --> 00:44:10,677 We cannot cover 150 miles of 542 00:44:10,914 --> 00:44:13,940 river frontage every day of the year, lt's an impossibility. 543 00:44:14,351 --> 00:44:16,444 You'd need more than a division of men to do that. 544 00:44:16,687 --> 00:44:18,882 Even then because of the bush 545 00:44:19,123 --> 00:44:20,886 warfare we'd be fighting, it's an impossibility. 546 00:44:23,394 --> 00:44:25,328 As in Kenya, the odds are staggering, 547 00:44:25,796 --> 00:44:26,956 and the danger is real. 548 00:44:28,232 --> 00:44:30,962 Operation Stronghold has just Many 549 00:44:31,201 --> 00:44:34,295 of the rangers are veterans from opposite sides 550 00:44:39,276 --> 00:44:44,236 of Zimbabwe's war of independence, 551 00:44:44,748 --> 00:44:47,308 now fighting together against a common enemy. 552 00:44:48,285 --> 00:44:51,311 Facing heavily armed Zambian-based poachers, 553 00:44:51,755 --> 00:44:54,952 the rangers shoot to kill with the government's consent. 554 00:45:04,968 --> 00:45:08,904 Since 1985, more than 30 poachers have been shot dead, 555 00:45:09,540 --> 00:45:11,633 and at least 20 taken prisoner 556 00:45:12,576 --> 00:45:16,512 In the same period, some 330 rhino have died. 557 00:45:18,015 --> 00:45:21,382 Until the network of dealers and middlemen is broken, 558 00:45:21,618 --> 00:45:23,950 Zimbabwe's rangers know they 559 00:45:24,188 --> 00:45:25,985 can do little more than stem the tide. 560 00:45:26,390 --> 00:45:29,655 Privately, many wonder how long it can go on. 561 00:45:30,594 --> 00:45:34,052 We've got people here who've been in the bush for two years, 562 00:45:34,298 --> 00:45:37,790 they go out for 20 days in a month, they occasionally have 563 00:45:38,035 --> 00:45:40,560 success, But it's very very... 564 00:45:42,406 --> 00:45:44,636 demanding on them physically, It's demanding on 565 00:45:44,875 --> 00:45:49,574 their families, its demanding of their well-being. 566 00:45:50,013 --> 00:45:52,413 They are buoyed up with enthusiasm every time 567 00:45:52,649 --> 00:45:55,209 you have a successful contact, and perhaps this is a 568 00:45:55,452 --> 00:45:57,852 good enough reason to have a contact, 569 00:45:58,088 --> 00:45:59,851 is to boost enthusiasm, If no other reason. 570 00:46:00,958 --> 00:46:03,552 You have captured, you have recovered 571 00:46:03,794 --> 00:46:07,924 one and what direction is the other poacher running to? 572 00:46:11,468 --> 00:46:12,730 No problem, as soon as the 573 00:46:12,970 --> 00:46:15,871 chopper arrives we will get into your... 574 00:46:16,507 --> 00:46:18,702 I guess the big thing is now, is to get all the others, 575 00:46:18,942 --> 00:46:20,967 if he's gonna be on the ground 576 00:46:21,211 --> 00:46:24,203 for too long I'll have to go fly over and pick him up... 577 00:46:25,816 --> 00:46:27,545 One down, one running. 578 00:46:48,238 --> 00:46:50,900 Okay, can't we get them in and start leap-frogging them? 579 00:46:51,475 --> 00:46:52,635 The support units are on their 580 00:46:52,876 --> 00:46:55,811 way now and... 401 is sending down... 581 00:46:56,046 --> 00:46:58,037 And the one, as I said, had been shot in the groin, 582 00:46:58,282 --> 00:47:02,810 was in fact bleeding. 583 00:48:22,799 --> 00:48:27,566 I don't know how, in fact, he got as far as he had. 584 00:48:27,804 --> 00:48:37,839 He scrabbled about 15 paces on his stomach and died there. 585 00:48:38,815 --> 00:48:41,010 It all happened so very quickly. 586 00:48:41,251 --> 00:48:43,276 One tends just to pick up little images 587 00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:48,321 of what was happening rather than as an overall thing. 588 00:48:48,558 --> 00:48:50,549 You get images of rounds from the people behind you, 589 00:48:50,794 --> 00:48:53,957 the expended cartridge cases landing on your head. 590 00:49:01,638 --> 00:49:03,902 The gang had killed four rhino in as many days. 591 00:49:05,575 --> 00:49:09,011 Each poacher had risked his life for a few hundred dollars. 592 00:49:38,442 --> 00:49:40,967 The rangers know that Zimbabwe is the last stand for 593 00:49:41,211 --> 00:49:43,076 the wild black rhino. 594 00:49:43,714 --> 00:49:47,081 Still, the dilemma they face is a terrible one. 595 00:49:57,828 --> 00:50:02,094 One often wonders about the human life for a rhino life, 596 00:50:02,499 --> 00:50:07,664 And at this stage it's a human life for about 20 rhino lives. 597 00:50:09,006 --> 00:50:15,036 The morality is perhaps secondary to the fact 598 00:50:15,278 --> 00:50:17,872 that there doesn't seem to be any other way in which 599 00:50:18,115 --> 00:50:19,878 we can in fact stop these blokes from getting away 600 00:50:20,117 --> 00:50:20,981 and getting back. 601 00:50:21,685 --> 00:50:26,019 A group of poachers would come into the country, 602 00:50:26,323 --> 00:50:27,950 they'll start killing rhinos. 603 00:50:28,191 --> 00:50:31,217 We've got to react to that, and one must never forget 604 00:50:31,461 --> 00:50:32,758 the central objective of this whole exercise, 605 00:50:32,996 --> 00:50:35,191 this whole operation, is save the rhino 606 00:50:35,432 --> 00:50:38,401 We are not manhunters, we're not mercenaries. 607 00:50:38,635 --> 00:50:41,160 We are here as conservationists. 608 00:50:41,405 --> 00:50:44,306 But desperate situations require desperate measures. 609 00:50:45,175 --> 00:50:49,805 No, there's no joy in killing people, but it's a job, 610 00:50:50,047 --> 00:50:53,983 and quite obviously, we're just pawns on either side 611 00:50:54,384 --> 00:50:58,582 for men who are just exploiting people 612 00:50:59,656 --> 00:51:01,681 to make themselves rich. 613 00:51:22,279 --> 00:51:25,077 Forty five million years of nature, unraveled by man 614 00:51:25,315 --> 00:51:28,716 in an evolutionary microsecond 615 00:51:30,687 --> 00:51:33,815 Still, the rhinocerous can still be saved. 616 00:51:34,624 --> 00:51:37,252 If a major international effort were mounted to 617 00:51:37,494 --> 00:51:38,825 stop the poachers, the rhino 618 00:51:39,062 --> 00:51:41,326 would almost certainly bounce back. 619 00:51:42,432 --> 00:51:44,366 But until the incentive to kill is removed 620 00:51:44,468 --> 00:51:46,060 the profit for the poachers, 621 00:51:46,203 --> 00:51:52,039 middlemen and dealers the battle will go on. 622 00:51:52,175 --> 00:51:54,700 If the fight is lost, the rhino will be doomed 623 00:51:54,945 --> 00:51:58,005 to exist only as a drawing in a child's picture book 624 00:51:58,248 --> 00:52:03,379 of things that once were and are no more.