National Geographic: Flight Over Africa Page #5

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of the dehorning

operations and videotaped it.

The first time

I saw rhinos

getting their horns cut

off it was in the southeast

section of Zimbabwe.

This huge rhino was lying

there sedated

and this man pulled the

started ripping the horn off its face.

And you start to

ask yourself,

"why made clear tome

was that there's nothing

else that can do here.

The rhino Claytor and Rachlow

are searching

for is an adult

female named Zola.

Even though she

was dehorned,

she was shot and badly

wounded by poachers.

In the vast 5000

square mile park,

the only way to locate

individual animals

is from the air.

Even then,

it's no easy matter.

We're starting to

get a signal.

Okay

Once we get

a little bit closer,

we can listen

out of both wings...

and we wanna balance

the volume that comes

in on the two wings

and that'll keep us

going right towards it... Okey

Geez, it's hard to see

through this bush, isn't it?

Okay, straight... Real close

real close

directly under us.

Nothing under

us on the left.

It's quite possible that

her collar has come off.

It's come off several

of the other animals.

So what we'll need to

do is just come in on foot

and find the collar

or find the animal. But,

you know,

now we know the area.

With the help

of expert trackers,

the search for Zola

continues on foot.

Dr. Michael Kock

is the veterinarian

for Zimbabwe's national park.

Once they find

the rhino,

Dr. Kock will shoot her

with a tranquilizer dart

so he can treat

her gunshot wounds.

I need...

The hole is swollen here.

That's from a

gunshot there?

What I need is,

I need an eye cover

My shirt?

She looks good.

You can see she's done

some wearing here around the edges.

If Zola had died,

the poachers would

probably have cut off

what was left of her

horn to sell. Still,

dehorning does appear

to reduce poaching overall.

It's easy to want to take

an emotional stance

to conserving these animals.

And if you take that stance,

dehorning is hard to justify.

But I think we have

to be realistic,

and we have to look

at what's happening.

And, I mean, I'd be

really sad to tell my

children or my

grandchildren that,

sorry,

there used to be something

as magnificent as

a dinosaur,

but we killed them all

Strafed with machine

gun fire

the huge creature's legs

are swollen with infection.

Once her wounds

are treated

Zola will be given an antidote

to the tranquilizer and freed.

May 27th.

The immense animal awakes

and rises to her feet

but does not move.

Then, slowly she lowers

her massive head

to the ground and uses

her chin as a crutch

to limp off into

the bush.

The doctor sounds optimistic

but I am not.

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