South Africa has been dehorning rhinos to keep the animal alive. This post isn’t a discussion of whether this is the right solution to stop poaching. 

The first dehorned rhino I saw was with my parents last year in isiMangaliso near St. Lucia. We were told those were dehorned because their mothers were poached. 

This week I saw rhinos that were proactively dehorned at Ithala. 

Dehorned white rhino at Ithala.