I Cut Off a Rhino's Horn.

- Move, move, move! - Oh, this is a strong animal. What I don't want to happen is for this

horn

to blow and hit me directly in the face. (suspenseful music) (chainsaw whirring) (epic music) (rock breaking) Okay, right now the convoy is heading to the area where the

rhino

crash was seen. There is a specific buck we targeted this morning with a very large antler. (knife sharpening) - For more than a century, humans have been decimating our planet's animal populations. Many for reasons that make no sense. (

rhino

bugle) The rhinoceros is possibly the species most recognizable for this global atrocity.

To date, almost 95% of the world's rhino population has disappeared. And most of it is due to one thing. (ominous orchestral music) This is the fight to save a species and our journey to the front lines begins at the Kariega Game Reserve. I first learned of Kariega in March 2012, just after a dark shadow fell over the reserve and left them to face an unimaginable crisis. Three of his rhinos were tranquilized by poachers, brutally stripped of their

horn

s and left for dead. One animal lost its life immediately. The second happened in a matter of days; His injuries were too much to bear.

But the last one, a female known as Thandi, miraculously survived thanks to the Herculean efforts of this man, Dr. William Fowlds. Caring for these animals is a huge collaborative effort. No reserve can do this alone. And we depend greatly on the support of people around the world. Conveying this message is vitally important. - In many procedures with large animals, helicopters have proven to be a useful tool as they allow veterinarians to cover a considerable distance in a very short period of time. White rhinos often graze on the open savanna grouped in a family unit commonly known as a "clash" and, depending on human intentions, this social behavior has its pros and cons.

The positive thing is that rhinos are large, which makes them quite easy to locate from an aerial perspective. Although the negative is that when they collide with each other, they become an easier target for poachers. - Now we're moving from the bush area to this grassland space and this is where you would expect to find white rhinos, so we're just scanning the area to see if we can find the right one. - Our mission focuses on a specific male whose antlers have grown to a length that makes him a target. So, to give his facial adornments less appeal on the black market, it was decided and we were granted permission to give him a small trim. - We have eyes on the target animal. -With our bull running and now clearly in sight, Dr.

Fowlds lines up his shot. - Well. Tell me when you're okay, Alex. - Yes I'm fine. (helicopter circling) - Wow! Watch him move. (gun fired) (epic orchestral music) - That dart looks good. - It's nice and perpendicular. - Nice! - Now let's set the stopwatch. This is the really important part of the process because we want to check the time since the dart enters. It will take several minutes before the tranquilizer serum takes full effect, giving us a narrow but necessary window to land the helicopter and move forward. It is a terrestrial unit. - Very good, then we have gotten into a bit of a complicated position because he has his head stuck in a bush that we are going to have to stop now. - A rhino procedure is best described as carefully coordinated chaos. - I only hear his breathing, which is pleasant and deep.

That's good. - But at the same time it is a master class in veterinary medicine. This is how it happens. The chainsaw masters take over. Then, within minutes, they create an intricate landscape in the dense thorny foliage. Right now, it's important for me to stay as far out of the way as possible. The chainsaws are taking down all these branches. (Chainsaw whirring) We have to make space around the animal before we can go in and perform the procedure. - Next, Dr. Fowlds administered a muscle relaxant, which helps calm the heart rate and reduce the rhino's intense adrenaline rush.

So it's about keeping him relaxed and those muscles not tense from all the running, obviously he's excited, right? - Yes. That's why we need well-relaxed muscles that improve blood circulation and remove lactic acid from there. And while it shakes like this, it burns oxygen. - I follow precise and organized directives. While we collect biometric data, we inject a multivitamin and replace the batteries in this big guy's ankle-oriented tracking collar. Listen to the power of breath, exchanging breath with a white rhino. What a beautiful animal. You don't really realize how big they are until you're literally right next to them.

Look at the size of this animal's head. (people grunting) Finally, it's time for the most important task: dehorning. Do I have two seconds right now to talk a little bit about the horn? - Sure. - So this is what's going to happen. Today we are performing a dehorning procedure. There are a couple of very important things you should know. This horn is not ivory. This is keratin. Like the same material your nails and hair are made of. If you look closely at this horn you can see all these stringy... Move, move, move! (Coyote gasps) Let it go.

Pull it to the left and take it out. It will be a little wobbly. What this means is that we have our dose of anesthetic a little off and not too serious because we are getting circulation back in his legs. We'll just take it to the trailer because that's where it needs to end up. - Well, nothing will make your heart race more than a rhino getting up in the middle of a procedure. This is a strong animal even when in this state. You can only imagine how powerful this animal is at full speed. - It should fall at any moment. - What I don't want to happen is for this horn to come up and hit me right in the face. - Well.

Just don't support it if it falls on its own. It's nice and soft here. He can't hurt himself. (suspense music) Okay, great. Perfect. We'll just give him a chance to calm down. (Coyote breathing deeply) - That was crazy. Well, we have successfully moved the rhino to a more open area, which is perfect for the next aspect of the procedure, which is horn removal. Now I want to make a couple of things very clear. This is what poachers are looking for. This giant piece of horn. And the problem is that the poachers don't come and just cut off the piece that doesn't touch the root.

They come in and nip it to the root. Then that goes down and enters the snout and causes massive bleeding. These are catastrophic damages that in almost all cases kill the rhinoceros. So, as much as I hate to take a piece of this beautiful animal, the truth that defines it, this is how you save a rhino. And I cannot stress enough that this has not harmed the rhino. Not physically in any way. (Chainsaw hum) (epic orchestral music) - Nice and cool. Okay, let's play the rear horn. (Chainsaw whirring) (epic orchestral music) This is the procedure we fear doing most to a rhino.

Removing them is an absolute sacrilege. - So, do you think this alters the rhino's depth perception by not having horns (incomprehensible)? (Dr. Fowlds sighs) - I don't think so, but I... They know they don't have horns anymore. - Yeah. - I mean, obviously they have to learn that when they wake up from all this. Let's walk him now. - Well. - So we'll just swing it the other way. If you stand up in the process, then great. - One, two, three, push! - Push! - Keep supporting him. That track is going to be a little weak. - Here it comes, here it comes. - Let's go, let's go left.

It's in first gear, let's shift into second gear. Keep pulling him. We'll line it up with the trailer. - Once dehorning is complete, our final task is to load this bull onto a trailer and move it to another part of the reserve. (Coyote exhales) - That was incredibly exhausting. Just the strength it takes to balance that animal. Dr Fowlds said it was probably around a ton and a half and not an adult rhino. (Door closes) - So what we're looking for in transit here is that you have full control of your body. Obviously we don't want him to fight in this box, but he needs to be able to move and stand without being thrown around by the movement of the vehicle. - This expansive new habitat is home to several first generation cows.

And it will only be a matter of time before it claims this territory, breeds and diversifies the genetic population. - What an animal, huh? - Incredible. - Hey, amazing. And to think that he still has a lot to do. He hasn't even fully grown yet. Ah, incredible things. - The charge of emotion at this moment is almost difficult to explain. And as I was getting ready for today, I saw that last night I was lying in bed thinking to myself that there are a series of emotions going through me. Sadness, above all. I can't express how sorry I am that we had to remove the horn from that beautiful animal.

Yesterday we were filming a B-roll with him in the wild. I mean, I looked right into this animal's eyes and thought, "I'm pretty sure that's whose horn we're taking off tomorrow." So I had to take it with me when I went to sleep last night. So that's where the pain comes in. I am sorry that we as humans have put our planet in a state where we are now forced to take away the precious element that defines a rhino. A dominant male. This is all that constitutes your emotion, your spirit, your confidence. And within the soul and body of that animal it will wake up and wonder, "Where did my horn go?" It makes me angry to know that we as humans are doing something like this to our planet.

Do something like that to our animals. And the reason these animals are being poached is because people in other countries, and specifically Asian countries, believe that rhino horn has medicinal purposes. I can tell you with 100% certainty that doctors have proven that to be absolutely false. Another thing is that rich people would love to have this on their mantle, but I can tell you this. It is no honor to have a rhino horn on your cloak. And as angry as I may be with the process that poachers go through. It must be understood that in many cases the poachers themselves are almost forced into these situations.

This horn is worth money. If they get this horn and sell it, that money will support their family. It is a vicious circle. So sadness and anger build up together and I realized that you can't fight this fight being angry. You fight this fight having hope. White rhinos need to be dehorned because of the way they move in herds. The next animal we will see is the black rhinoceros, a slightly more solitary animal. And what we're going to try with the next segment is to find out if technology can be the answer to the future of these animals and not remove their horn, but provide something that can be the front line of conservation.

This horn will be immediately taken off-site to a safe, undisclosed location. And I want to point out that dehorning is only one aspect of the multi-dimensional protection of wildlife in the Kariega Game Reserve. (typing text) (crickets screaming) There are around 20,000 white rhinos left in the wild, classifying these gregarious giants as near threatened. However, they are not the only rhinos in Africa. The black rhino, a more elusive species, is listed as critically endangered and its numbers in the wild have dwindled to just 5,000. Visually, there are few notable differences between the two. To begin with, black rhinos are smaller in weight and height compared to white ones.

If you look closer at their heads, you'll notice that white rhinos have pointed ears and a square upper lip. While blacks have rounded ears and a pointed, prehensile upper lip. At ground level, these key features make identifying Africa's rhinos fairly easy, but from a helicopter, it's all a matter of experience. - This is a typical territory of the black rhinoceros. Finding a rhino here is incredibly difficult. We can fly for hours here and not find any. - Albany's dense bush covers the slopes, creating an ideal habitat for forging and hiding black rhinos. But for Dr. Fowlds and the helicopter team, finding and successfully launching our target animal is a notable challenge. - Coyote, Coyote, pick up Mike. - Go get Mike. - With our eyes on the rhino, we have to get out. - The good thing is that the slopes are not very steep, but we could end up on the side of a cliff doing this procedure so things are going to get intense. - So we have identified the correct animal.

I'm going to load a dart quickly. Now what Alex is going to do is line up this rhino and when he feels comfortable, he will tell me when I can shoot. - Well. (helicopter spinning) Okay, ready? (suspense music) - We're fine. - Good. - Very good, they have shot therhinoceros. Nice. This is all an open flat area right here. (helicopter spinning) (footsteps crushing grass) Well, we've got an animal right here. - This is the typical black rhinoceros. He's stuck in a bush. I'm going to put the blindfold on him. Make sure to protect their eyes. - Overall, black rhino veterinary examinations are very similar to our previous experience with white rhino: carefully coordinated chaos.

One two three! (people grunt) - K. - The biggest difference is that instead of taking the defining characteristic of this animal, we will perform an intercornal implant procedure that disguises a GPS tracking system in the rhino's rear horn. And you can notice how much bigger this rhino's horn is because it's never been trimmed before. Using a drummer, we carefully carve a cavity that provides a perfect fit for the GPS. (the rhino exhales) It's amazing to hear him breathe. This is what we are fighting to protect right now. and the toe structure is quite different between black rhinos and white rhinos.

You see these three big hoods in front. How agile these animals are, being able to move on these steep slopes, lots of padding on the foot so these toes can almost grip the rocks. For such a large animal, it's surprising how agile they are. A strategically colored dental epoxy is then used to fuse the unit in place, keeping it camouflaged and out of the battle zone if this rhino ever confronts another male. Very well, you can see how non-invasive this device is on the animal. Now, once the epoxy is cured, we'll grind it slightly to mix it with the horn and put in the reverse serum.

This animal will be ready to go. - Okay, let's go guys. Get out of the way, awakenings are different. We need to get out of here. - Well. - All the way. (intense orchestral music) - Okay. The transmitter is officially locked to the speaker. That's what you call a successful mission. We put the reverse serum on the animal and lifted the drone into the air. We will be able to follow him as he returns and enters nature. Yeah! This was amazing. - You can see it well. He is finding his feet very well. His anesthesia was gentle at all times.

Very happy about that. It didn't give us any surprises, which was good for humans. And I'm really very impressed with the implant. We managed to fit it there with plenty of space around it. So it has been a good procedure. - I am excited to have participated in one of the first intercornal implant procedures that has been performed on this species and the technology linked to it will help protect this animal and its horns on a daily basis. This is how you do two rhino procedures in two days. The dehorned white rhino, the black rhino with technology that could change the face of conservation.

What an incredible experience. I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave, stay wild. See you on the next adventure! After taking a trip like this, you realize that your final destination has somehow become a new perspective on the world. What happened? Where have we gone so wrong that, as human beings, we have put a fictitious value on the horn of an animal that created a black market demand worth more than gold, diamonds or oil? When are we going to get up and who is going to break the wheel that moves the Game of Horns? Brave Wilderness, in collaboration with Global Conservation Force and Kariega Game Reserve, has a pioneering vision to help the future of Africa's rhinos.

We are building a safe haven in the Eastern Cape that may become the last bastion for the preservation of these animals if poaching is not ended. What we do now truly echoes an eternity and I can promise you that in less than 10 years, these animals will be extinct in the wild if we don't take action now. This is the truth of the rhino's plight, but you can change its future. Become a warrior and join the fight by clicking the donate button so that together we can prevent the loss of these disappearing giants. (epic orchestral music)