JOHANNESBURG, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- High above the thick bushland of South Africa's Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, a drone glided through the sky. On a handheld monitor below, footage revealed several massive rhinos resting close together among the bushes.
The operator called the drone an "eye in the sky." At night, it can scan areas beyond the view of rangers on the ground, while during the day, it can help conservation teams locate rhinos for monitoring and veterinary work.
For one of Africa's oldest rhino sanctuaries, the view from above is part of a wider effort to change how its rhinos are protected.
Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province has played a central role in the survival of the southern white rhino.
A remnant population was preserved in the area in the late 19th century, when the subspecies was close to extinction. Beginning in the 1960s, conservationists moved rhinos from the reserve to other protected areas, helping establish new populations in South Africa and beyond.
Cedric Coetzee, senior advisor for rhino protection at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the provincial conservation authority, described the park as the "original gene pool" of the southern white rhino, highlighting its importance in the subspecies' recovery.
More than a century after the animals found refuge here, protecting them has become a different kind of struggle. Poachers continue to enter reserves in search of rhino horn, forcing conservation teams to watch over vast areas of difficult terrain, often at night.
The estimated global white rhino population fell from 17,464 in 2023 to 15,752 in 2024, according to the International Rhino Foundation's 2026 State of the Rhino report. South Africa, home to the world's largest rhino population, continues to face heavy pressure from poaching.
At Hluhluwe-iMfolozi, the response increasingly begins before a ranger reaches the scene.
Hundreds of cameras deployed across the reserve can transmit images of unusual activity, while nearly 20 km of fencing in key areas is being upgraded with smart technology.
"If you intrude into it, it will send an alert through to our operations center," Coetzee said.
Information from cameras, sensors and smart fencing is brought together at the park's operations center, helping staff assess potential threats and coordinate a response.
The park still relies on what Coetzee called "boots on the ground"-- rangers conducting patrols, checking fences, operating observation and listening posts, and responding when an intrusion is detected. Tracking dogs can follow suspects, while helicopters help move teams across the reserve.
Technology is also helping conservationists keep closer watch over the rhinos themselves.
During an August dehorning operation at the park, Dumisani Zwane, manager of game capture at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, coordinated with a veterinary team in the bush to safely immobilize a young white rhino. The team carefully removed part of its horn to reduce the incentive for poachers to target it and fitted the animal with a tracking device for subsequent monitoring.
"It's not a silver bullet that will fix all the problems of poaching," Zwane said, adding that dehorning works hand in hand with other measures.
Rhino horns grow back, meaning conservation teams must locate the animals and repeat the procedure. Under the current threat, the park is carrying out the work annually, Zwane said.
Figures released by South Africa's Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment in February showed that the number of rhinos poached in the park fell from 198 in 2024 to 63 in 2025.
Coetzee said the park began investing more heavily in technology and revamping its anti-poaching units in 2024, while improving resource coordination and expanding dehorning operations.
"With all those interventions, we've experienced a reduction in rhino poaching," he said.
