White rhinos were hunted almost to extinction in the late 19th century. Their numbers progressively recovered but remain threatened, especially by poaching.Today, at 81, his money is all but gone, and South African conservationist John Hume is throwing in the towel.
South Africa is home to nearly 80 percent of the world's rhinos, making it a hotspot for poaching driven by demand from Asia, where horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effect. They are highly sought after on black markets, where the price per weight rivals that of gold and cocaine at an estimated $60,000 per kilogramme.Hume said that, through the years, he had lavished around $150-million on his massive philanthropic project to save the world's second-largest land mammal.
His heavily guarded farm, at an undisclosed location in North West province, has around 2,000 southern white rhinos -- a species that was hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century but gradually recovered thanks to decades of protection and breeding efforts. The tight security is meant to dissuade would-be poachers sending the message that"they don't stand a chance", said the farm's head of security, Brandon Jones.
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