Rhino Wars II by Brent Stirton

Rhino Wars II

Nature, first prize stories

May 24, 2016

A security team deploys on John Hume’s rhino ranch, near Klerksdorp, South Africa. The teams are at work 24 hours to protect Hume’s close to 1,400 rhino.

Demand in Asia for rhino horn—traditionally valued for its medicinal properties—is rising steeply, as increasing prosperity in the region means more people can afford to pay the extremely high prices involved. This puts growing pressure on a species already threatened with extinction. In 2007, South Africa, home to 70 percent of the world’s rhinos, reported losing just 13 to poachers; by 2015 that had risen to 1,175. Unlike elephant tusks, rhino horn grows back when cut properly. Rhino rancher John Hume is among those attempting to end the international ban on trading in rhino horn, and to farm rhinos commercially, a move fiercely opposed by conservationists, who say a legal trade could doom rhinos.

Commissioned by: Getty Images Reportage for National Geographic

Photo Credit: Brent Stirton

Brent Stirton is the senior correspondent for Getty Images and Verbatim Photo.

He does most of his work for National Geographic Magazine, Human Rights Watch, Le Figaro, GEO and other international titles.

Brent shoots issues related to the environment, to diminishing resources and on global health issues. His commercial clients include Coke, Nike, and Novartis, amongst others.