The reality of modern day conservation is that it has many faces but the harshest of those is the protection and policing of wild resources.
Leading a rhino into a crate, semi conscious it's a feat of capture and veterinary work the tactics and techniques that have been developed for the moving of huge animals like this!
Armed and dangerous and with a pure mission - part of a small but extremely effective fighting force exclusively for the protection of rhinos! I got to know some of these guys and no doubt they are HARD CORE!
With dedicated people keeping their protective eye over the rhinos day and night, John Hulme has not only managed to breed more babies than anyone else on earth, but has also been for over a year without a single rhino lost to poaching. Truly the species will have a brighter future as a result of him being aligned with the fight to save rhinos.
The heartbreak as a rhino owner says good bye to the last rhino on his property, unable to finance the required security, for the better of the rhinos they had to go somewhere where they could be better protected and so, at the hand of man for the second time in history on yet another property rhinos become extinct.
Thanks to exceptional anti-poaching efforts as well as perfect habitat, the giraffes here, (Rothschilds) in Murchison Falls National Park are incredibly successful. This is a park that was totally ravaged by rebels and poaching a few decades ago and it is truly remarkable the volume of wildlife that's here. Well done to UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) for incredible conservation efforts.
Early morning giraffe! I sincerely hope that this kind of sight and experience will endure into the next generation. We have spent a significant amount of time with Julian Fennessy this year in three different giraffe locations and I have learned a lot about what's actually going on with giraffes in Africa today. It's an iconic species that we all love and yet take for granted - already extinct in seven African countries where they used to abound. With the work of GCF, (The Giraffe Conservation Foundation) they have hope, and lots of it. With our support Julian and his team will be able to help them thrive into the future.
My son Trail with one of Africa's true wildlife heroes, Karen Holmes, with a freshly dehorned rhino. I am so blessed to be able to give my kids the opportunity to truly see Africa for what it really is, the good and the bad. But they will only realize when they get older how special a moment like this with someone like her truly is. Thank you Karen and all the wildlife heroes out there. Indeed you are helping make sure our kids will also get to enjoy the outdoors as we do.
Wildlife heroes come in many forms. This is a moment we captured while visiting lwiro primate sanctuary earlier in the year.
Here, the Virunga pilot, Anthony Caere comforts little Dungu, a baby chimp who he just flew from a rescue operation far to the north. Little Dungu is safe at last in wildlife vet Lina's capable arms. Yes, indeed these two people represent hope for these wild orphans and are the basis from which they can start to trust humans. Every single day as I think back on what I have seen and been a part of during our filming trips across the continent in the last few years I am grateful for these people. Indeed we owe tremendous gratitude to these folks for they are the future of our wildlife.
Taking measurements and samples before the tracking device is fitted to a giraffe that will teach us so much in the coming years about where she goes and perhaps even why.
Completely habituated warthogs at the Nile river ferry crossing in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda! Great opportunity for some closeup shots!
A pensive moment on the Congo river. We went out to an island in the midst of this angry stretch of river simply to get a feel for what it represents. One of the largest rivers in Africa and it's catchment of Africa's largest and most important forests. Home to millions of wild animals from a host of species. This river is the artery of life flowing through these forests, but the humanity that uses it to access the same forests make the very same river the artery of death for an estimated one million tons worth of bushmeat annually.