Paul Steyn

Anthony Caere, a pilot for Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cradles Felix and Mara as he flies them to Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center. The babies’ families were killed by poachers. Caere, who survived a plane crash in 2017, says helping to rescue chimps gives him purpose.

Chishuru, a large African elephant bull with a talent for sniffing out TNT, stood in front of a line of seven white buckets. Inside one of the buckets on a recent morning was a slight trace of TNT on a piece of paper stapled to the bottom. Chishuru's job was to find out exactly which bucket it was—using his nimble trunk to guide the way.

Sniffing out poachers Texas hounds are revolutionising anti-poaching work in South Africa. By some estimates, 4,000 rhinos were killed in the Kruger National Park area during the past decade; how many remain there is debated, with claims ranging from 5,000 to 9,000. Since May 2018, the hounds, raised by Texas rancher Joe Braman, have contributed to a 24 per cent drop in rhino poaching in the park and a 54 per cent increase in apprehensions of poachers, authorities say.