SAFRICA-CONSERVATION-WILDLIFE-RHINO

A de-horned rhino slowly wakes up after his horn was trimmed at John Hume's Rhino Ranch in Klerksdorp, in the North Western Province of South Africa, on February 3, 2016. Millionaire, John Hume is a private rhino owner/breeder in South Africa, who strongly advocates for legalising trade. His private game ranch, started in 1992, has approximately 1000 rhinos, all of whom have been dehorned. South Africa has by far the largest population of rhinos in the world and is an incredibly important country for rhino conservation. However, rhino poaching has reached a crisis point, and if the killing continues at this rate, we could see rhino deaths overtaking births in 2016-2018, meaning rhinos could go extinct in the very near future. Figures compiled by the South African Department of Environmental affairs show the dramatic escalation in poaching over recent years. / AFP / MUJAHID SAFODIEN (Photo credit should read MUJAHID SAFODIEN/AFP via Getty Images)