Species kept safer in the south

Africa’s rhino population has declined catastrophically since the 1970s as a result of poaching for the animals’ highly prized horns. But while the species was in decline or even extinct in many countries north of the Limpopo, private ownership in SA allowed them to make a dramatic comeback from about 30 animals at the beginning of the 20th century to more than 10,000 today.

Picture: Paul Ash An investigator uses a metal detector to hunt for the poacher’s bullet that killed this rhino in Kruger National Park.