As poachers continue to target KZN game reserves, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife recently took the decision to dehorn its rhino population.

In what is known as a ‘rhino devaluation operation’, the project is funded by the World Wildlife Fund and is being carried out by Ezemvelo and Wildlife ACT – an NPO tasked with monitoring rare and endangered wildlife in the province.

The decision comes amid a continued upward trajectory in rhino poaching, with 307 incidents in KZN last year, compared with 200 in 2017.

What makes the dehorning operation ‘historically significant’ is that Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) is renowned as the ‘birthplace of rhino’ following Operation Rhino’s efforts more than half a century ago, which saved the southern white rhino from the brink of extinction.

HiP also housed the largest population of horned rhino in Africa.

“The scale of this operation and the widespread dehorning that is taking place across southern Africa in response to rhino poaching highlights the urgent need for a better understanding of the impacts of dehorning on population growth rates and poaching levels,” said Wildlife ACT.