As long as rhino ashtrays can be sold for expensive money in Vietnam and China, dehorning in the Kruger National Park is considered a drastic but effective means of saving the animals. Our author accompanied two global players who want to draw attention to this through Sorai, a charity organization. Not all rangers are happy about this.
At night, lions roar in the distance. In the morning, as the sun rises, your gaze wanders towards a rocky plateau where baboons blink into the dawn. Everything seems peaceful. And yet here they are talking about war. About an unequal fight between humans and animals, which subsequently degenerates into a conflict between humans: between the poachers and the rhino protectors. The conflict is so virulent that most of those involved in the fight for the animals will not be allowed to be photographed in the coming days. The risk of being targeted by poachers is too great. In some cases, observers from Europe are even asked to only take photos without a GPS signature – so as not to accidentally reveal our location when feeding child rhinos.
All of this takes place in the middle of the Kruger National Park, this world-famous tourist magnet – and under the leadership of someone who won't let his mouth be stopped. His name and face are too prominent in South Africa to be threatened, and it is precisely this advantage that he is using to win the war: Kevin Pietersen, 42 years old, once captain of the British national cricket team, Hublot brand ambassador and founder from Sorai, a charity organization committed to rhino conservation. “Sorai” is an acronym for “Save Our Rhino Africa India”.
For a watch brand, this journey is extraordinary in several respects: after all, violent conflicts are not compatible with the marketing interests of luxury manufacturers. Hublot is also better known as a partner of sport and culture, as a sponsor of football, in a team with star chef Yannick Alléno or the artist Takashi Murakami. On the one hand, it was obvious that they approached sports star Kevin Pietersen, but he didn't just want to be signed up as a cricket idol. Instead, he told the marketing experts: “Come here, I'll show you something that's bigger than any cricket tournament, that's bigger than you and me, that's something that's bigger than your brand.” There were the Swiss amazed – and curious. Pietersen showed them the nature of the Kruger National Park and the fight against rampant rhino poaching. Now he is doing exactly that with the journalists. “It’s about biodiversity! And what is more important than that?” asks Pietersen.
The starting point is the tiny Skukuza airport. With its bamboo hut look and the rhino statue in front of the entrance, it looks like the entrance to a wildlife tourist paradise, which is exactly what it is supposed to be. The journey in open jeeps takes you to the Jock Safari Lodge, a luxurious accommodation with villas, an outdoor shower and an outdoor bed protected by a mosquito net if guests want to spend the night under the stars. A destination with great tradition and the base camp for Pietersen's Sorai aspirations.
Visitors from Germany with zero cricket savvy notice that the retired sports star is used to a certain level of admiration. Today he is a TV commentator, works in real estate and runs a lodge in South Africa. But here somewhere far out there, just 30 kilometers from the Mozambican border, he is not concerned about himself or, as he puts it: “Whether this should also be my legacy? Oh dear!” It’s all about the rhinos and the homeland, because: “What would South Africa be without the Big Five?” Like lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffaloes.
The poachers mostly come from the neighboring country. They march on foot to Kruger Park and hunt the animals there because rhino horns can be sold for expensive money in Vietnam and China. $60,000 per kilo! A rhinoceros ashtray is considered the ultimate status symbol there, even though the horns are made of nothing other than keratin, just like human nails and hair.
Ten years ago, a poached rhinoceros died on average every eight hours, or three per day, more than 1,000 per year. 90 percent of the South African population was wiped out during this period, while it remained stable in other parts of the world. It is thanks to initiatives like Sorai that there were “only” 124 rhinos lost last year, and things are now slowly becoming safer for the animals again.
Because the fight against poaching is complex, as shown on the same day, which will prove to be typical: search teams search for and anesthetize rhinoceros by helicopter – with an anesthetic that is 10,000 times stronger than morphine. After the stunning shot, the pilot skillfully steers the animal into an area accessible to the team, where it can lie down and the helicopter can land. Then the rhino's two horns are sawed off under veterinary supervision. The logic behind it: Without horns, the animal has no value to the poachers. In addition, the animals are veterinary examined during the anesthesia and equipped with tracking devices. The team works quickly and with great concentration; the rhino is in a deep sleep for less than 20 minutes. Still, the sight of the stunned rhinoceros – lying there with its feet tied and its eyes covered while the chainsaw does its work and keratin shavings fly through the air – is still painful. It's a tragedy that all of this is necessary.
It's a drastic measure, but an effective one – because the animals get along well in everyday life in the national park even without horns. But because the horns grow back quickly, the procedure is necessary around every 18 months. It protects the rhinoceros and relieves the burden on the rangers, of which there are only 386 in the entire park. Far too few to protect the entire park, which at 20,000 square kilometers is half the size of the Netherlands. Especially when you consider that 70 percent of the rangers are considered corrupt.
Head Ranger Cathy Dreyer has only been on the job for a few months. She is remarkably calm and collected, considering that two-thirds of her people are not her people. She speaks of the plight of poachers in Mozambique. She speaks of the manageable salary of her rangers – the extended family usually has to feed the approximately 10,000 rand, or a good 500 euros. And she talks about loan sharks through which poachers force their employees into dependencies. Or act even more brutally: in 2018, someone was shot with an AK-47.
Lie detector tests have recently been permitted, and Dreyer has since separated from 40 employees, from the laundress to gate guards to senior rangers. The tests are likely to have an even greater impact than the draconian penalties that poachers face: one was recently sentenced to 29 years in prison. Here in South Africa we don't even treat murderers and rapists that harshly. In such a poor, desperate society, in which even the political leadership is seen as corruptible, only local knowledge and financial strength can make a difference. Jobs and better living conditions need to be created and financial resources used sensibly. Sorai supports different projects, but only transfers the money to verified organizations, and then only on a project-related basis. Dehorning a single rhino, for example, costs at least 400 euros, which only includes medication, staff and fuel for the donated helicopters. On a good day you can manage around twenty animals; in November you fly the whole month. An air raid patrol has proven to be far too expensive, but the positioning of night vision cameras has proven to be very useful.
The journey into this beautiful and depressing crisis area ends at Care For Wild, a private initiative that nurtures animals injured by poachers in a top secret location, prepares them for a return to the wild and now also breeds them. 107 animals have already been rescued and 35 have been released. Seven babies were born here – all under the protection of 54 rangers, a K9 dog protection squad and armed rangers on horses. The huge and constantly growing reserve is monitored using a complex digital system. Here the author is allowed to feed the hungry 18-month-old Mavic – named after the drone manufacturer whose devices help protect the animals – with substitute milk. Mavic sucks, a few seconds later 1.5 liters of milk are gone.
That's moving, but Kevin Pietersen didn't choose Hublot as a partner to give the brand's guests unique experiences. Rather, the money generated by the sale of limited Sorai editions helps. Three different models have already been successfully launched, and a fourth is in development. Sorai is also known through Hublot, and what is particularly important to Pietersen is: “In China and Vietnam, where horns are considered status symbols, cricket doesn’t play a role. Luxury brands definitely.” And so his important South African message arrives there via the detour of the Hublot headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. In the form of watches whose value is completely different and greater than their price. It would be too simplistic to view these watches as charity models. They also tick for the life of rhinos – and actually for any kind of species protection.
