Speaker 1:

Africa's wildlife, magnificent and unique, it brings millions of tourist dollars each year, but there are some who prefer to see it like this.

Speaker 2:

Okay, have you got a visual on him at this stage?

Speaker 1:

The search is on for elusive white rhino. The rhino, already regarded as rare, is only a step away from being classified as an endangered species. At the [Song-in-bellow] Reserve near South Africa's border with Swaziland, the rangers are joined by a paying customer.

Speaker 3:

[inaudible].

Speaker 1:

[Vul-pa Pash-eer] has parted with around $5,000 to get just one shot at the rhino. The rhino's eyesight isn't good, but it's got strong hearing and an excellent sense of smell.

Speaker 3:

At that point in time I really thought that today is the day that one of us are gonna get killed here. That's how dangerous the animals are close.

Speaker 1:

But this time, he's not using a bullet, instead, a tranquilliser dart. Vulpa is on a green hunt.

Speaker 3:

It was close.

Speaker 1:

It's all in the name is research, but the danger is still very real.

Speaker 3:

There's a hell of a difference, because you haven't got a real rifle with you, it's a dart gun. And anything can happen, and you know, if the rhino charges, that's the only thing, well, the  main thing that goes though your mind. What are you gonna do with a dart gun?

Speaker 4:

That was an excellent one. So close, have you been so close?

Speaker 3:

No.

Speaker 4:

That was good. [foreign language]

Speaker 1:

The rhino, a dominant boar, will be out for about 15 minutes, and there's a lot to do. The support team moves in; they're collecting DNA samples to check on inbreeding within the 40-strong herd.

Speaker 3:

36. Okay, 40 over 125, 39 [crosstalk].

Speaker 1:

They're also implanting microchips to clearly identify the rhino in an effort to deter poachers.

Speaker 2:

Okay, this is only a body chip, it does straight into the muscle.

Speaker 3:

Body chip 7F7C112764.

Speaker 4:

We're doing green hunts to just help us finance the micro chipping operation, because most of the conservation agencies in South Africa are underfunded, and we are battling to get funds to do expensive types of operations like this.

Speaker 3:

You know, they're standing two metres from us, and [crosstalk]

Speaker 1:

After his hunt, Vulpa is still quite shaken.

Speaker 3:

Moving his mouth like [phsst]. He was aware of us, and I was full of [inaudible]. I couldn't move my legs, I was worried that when I get the chance to dart the rhino, then I might not do it because I was freezing.

Speaker 1:

Vulpa is measuring the horn, a rhino's pride and it's frequent death sentence. Poachers can get up to $100,000 for this horn.

Speaker 2:

19 inch.

Speaker 1:

Asian men believe it to be a powerful natural Viagra, and when ground down to a power, will sell for a fortune.

Speaker 2:

If you find a copious in the felt, the horns have been removed, or they sometimes they cut off the ears and you don't identity of the animal, but if you get the microchip in the body, you can still trace it back to the Reserve of origin.

Speaker 1:

For Vulpa, it's a family moment. His wife and children arrive to share in his triumph. The green hunt seems to have had a profound effect on the great white hunter.

Speaker 5:

Is it better than killing it?

Speaker 3:

For sure. For sure. I will never shoot anything in my life again. That's the best way to do it, for sure.

Speaker 1:

The moment is recorded for the family album, then it's Vulpa's wife Liffey who will continue the hunt.

Speaker 6:

I'm a little bit nervous, but at the moment I'm also excited, because it's the first time that I'm doing a green hunt.

Speaker 1:

While Liffey goes in search of her quarry, I go into the Reserve with Annalise. The white rhino is this woman's work, and she takes it very seriously.

Speaker 2:

Well, they're pretty rare species, especially from [Mal-an-ga], and there's always straight of poachers coming in, so it's important to [inaudible] them, because we don't have that many. It's important for us to look after them and conserve them, it's our responsibility as a conservation organisation.

Speaker 1:

Annalise watches over the herd, white rhinos are her passion.

Speaker 2:

Well what I really like to do is I'll get down and then maybe I'll get up into a tree and have them sort of grazing towards me, and just to get that sound of them communicating, the cow with the calf, and hearing them, their skins touching. And they will go right underneath you without realising you're there. Even if they smell you, they never think of looking  up.

Speaker 1:

So they won't look up into the tree to see?

Speaker 2:

No, well they can't lift their heads that high, and they don't expect somebody to sit there. So it's quite a thrill, sitting there and having these rhinos walks straight underneath you.

Speaker 1:

So, what is it about them that really fascinates you?

Speaker 2:

I don't know. I suppose it's their size, the fact that they're so huge, and still they can be very gentle, very docile, and I don't know, they're just magnificent creatures.

Speaker 1:

Liffey is now within range, her target, a young rhino cow. With tranquillisers, rather than live ammunition, there are few second chances.

Speaker 4:

[foreign language].

Speaker 6:

[foreign language].

Speaker 1:

The cow and calf combination presents double trouble. Both need to be sedated at the same time, so the ranges can work free of the danger of a charging rhino.

Speaker 4:

[foreign language].

Speaker 1:

The chopper drop saved the day. Double darting is unusual, this time the second dart guarantees success. The green hunt is still in its early stages, and members of the public are only allowed to accompany the rangers on a limited number of expedition each year. There's a long list of hunters all eager to take part. It's a means to an end, a way to turn the routine darting of animals into the generation of much-needed funds.

Speaker 2:

In South Africa, some people still frown upon it, but I think in the end, if you handle it correctly and within ethical boundaries, it becomes a little bit of a win-win situation. You have the hunters, used to shooting, and while he's got all these trophies, now it's a new experience. He has to get very close to the animal, we get our data collected for our research purposes, and the animal lives in the end.

Speaker 4:

Now [inaudible] is gonna wake it up like instantly.

Speaker 1:

It's not just the rhinos that wake up feeling a little different. For hunters like Vulpa, it's a novel experience. After a lifetime of shooting to kill, it's a turnaround to celebrate the one that got away.

Speaker 3:

The special about darting a rhino, I didn't kill it. It's still out there, alive and happy. That was special.