Welcome...

The powerful image above is of a southern white rhino from South Africa that has been sedated to keep it calm. It has been relocated and is about to be released into the wild in the Okavango Delta, Botswana, where it is hoped it will be safe from the poachers that are decimating the species in other parts of Africa.

The picture, taken by renowned photographer and conservationist, Neil Aldridge, has recently won first prize in the Environment section of the World Press Photo contest 2018. More of Neil’s images highlighting the work of Rhino Conservation Botswana can be seen in our photo story on p80.

We first talked about featuring Neil’s work on rhinos back in 2016, but it has taken until now for all the elements to come together to really tell the tale of the relocation efforts. It shows the patience and dedication needed by a wildlife photographer to end up with such stunning images. Sheena Harvey sheena.harvey@immediate.co.uk