19th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Ranger from the anti-poaching unit during their night patrol

The northern white rhino is all but extinct. The two last male died several years ago. Two females are still with us, but too feeble to bear babies. In an Italian lab their eggs are now artificially fertilised by sperm from the three late males, and kept at minus 196 celsius, in hopes that surrogate rhinos from another sub species can carry the northern white back from the brink. Ranger from the anti-poaching unit during their night patrol in Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. In many places other than Kenya the poaching business keeps flourishing. It is organised from the top down, the final buyers mostly from China or Vietnam, where ivory and rhino tusks are still seen as very prestigious items indeed.

Photo Detail
Date Uploaded: 11.2021
Photo Location: Nanyuki, Kenya
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Copyright: © Matjaz Krivic