Tag Archives: White rhinoceros

Summer Snapshots from Kruger: Grateful for Rhino encounters

DeWetsWild conducted a two-week tour of the Kruger National Park with altogether nine people to see out 2025 and ring in 2026 and every day for the month of February I’ll be sharing just a few of the many memories our group collected.

We had a handful of white rhino sightings during our fortnight in the Kruger Park, of which this was the most memorable. With the threat of rhino poaching ever present, seeing these beautiful animals with their horns trimmed to mere stumps (by park managers desperate to do whatever they can to safeguard them) seems a small price to pay for the privilege of spending time in their presence.

White Rhinos

If you’d like to join me on a guided tour of South Africa’s wild places, of even if you’d just like a bit of help putting your reservations together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Manyeleti Magic 2024: Rhinos and Oxpeckers

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With poaching still an enormous concern in South Africa it was wonderful to enjoy a couple of great sightings of white rhinos during our 2024 Manyeleti Magic photographic safari in June.

White Rhino

White rhinos

White Rhino cow and calf

White Rhino

Invariably the rhinos we saw were accompanied by both red- and yellow-billed oxpeckers that were not at all shy about the intimate spaces they were inspecting for ticks!

Red-billed Oxpecker inspecting a White Rhino’s ear

Red-billed Oxpecker diving into a White Rhino’s ear

Red-billed Oxpecker

Yellow-billed Oxpecker

Red- and Yellow-billed Oxpeckers sharing a rhino

We’re already taking bookings for our 2025 Manyeleti Magic Photographic Safari and Workshop, to be conducted out of Buffelshoek Camp again in June of next year in conjunction with Hannes Rossouw Photography. Contact us if you’d like to join this one, or if you and a group of family and friends are keen to do something similar on other dates we’d be very glad to accommodate you!

A prized Rhino sighting in Manyeleti, just in time for World Rhino Day

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Today is World Rhino Day. The ongoing war against rhino poaching still features in the headlines all over the world and unfortunately it is seldom good news. As the numbers continue to dwindle sightings of these enigmatic creatures in our wild places are getting ever more scarce. That’s probably the reason why this wonderful encounter we had with a White Rhino bull in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve when we visited earlier in September is so precious and memorable.

White Rhino bull in the Manyeleti Nature Reserve

Don’t miss the chance to visit Manyeleti along with DeWetsWild and Hannes Rossouw Photography!

Marakele’s Behemoths

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There’s no denying that Africa’s mega-mammals are a great attraction for visitors to our national parks, and being in close proximity to these majestic and charismatic animals remains a thrill we cannot ever tire of, no matter how often we have the pleasure to see them up close.

The Cape, of African, Buffalo may not box in the same weight division as the rhinos and elephants that also call Marakele National Park home, but they have a well deserved fearsome reputation, especially the cantankerous lone males, of which we saw quite a few while we were exploring the Park on our short visit last week.

A lone Cape Buffalo bull sauntering along the road in Marakele National Park

An old Buffalo bull staring at us from behind a bush

With our white and black rhinos being so severely threatened by poachers it was heartening to have several good sightings of these prehistoric-looking animals at Marakele, and we realised again what a great debt of gratitude we owe the rangers who keep these animals safe on a daily basis.

White Rhino family in Marakele National Park

White Rhino family in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Enormous White Rhino bull walking straight at us (photo by Joubert)

Enormous White Rhino bull walking straight at us

Young White Rhino by its mother’s side (photo by Joubert)

White Rhino family in Marakele National Park

Big White Rhino Bull (photo by Joubert)

Big White Rhino Bull

An elephant roadblock is always a wonderful experience, but in Marakele, where the elephants are less used to having vehicles in their space, it can be downright exciting! It is important to give the grey giants lots of space and respect, so I am grateful that I can trust Joubert to get the shots while I keep the car pointing in the right direction!

Elephant claiming the right of way in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Joubert taking pictures of the elephant

Remember that DeWetsWild will gladly assist you with a reservation and planning if you’re interested in visiting Marakele National Park and making the most of your visit.

Summertide Diary: iSimangaliso Rhinos

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The iSimangaliso Wetland Park is home to healthy populations of both White and Black Rhinoceros, jealously guarded by the reserve’s rangers and routinely dehorned to deter poachers. Rhino populations all over our country are under severe threat and seeing these animals in the wild, even without their trademark horns, is an experience we’re very grateful for.

Being diurnal in habit and much less skittish, the White Rhino is the easier of the two African species to find while driving around iSimangaliso.

White Rhinos

White Rhino

White Rhino rubbing mud from its face

White Rhinos

Lazy White Rhinos

White Rhino

Black Rhinos are solitary, shy, more nocturnal and consequently seen less often than White Rhinos.

Black Rhino on the eastern shores of Lake St. Lucia

Black Rhinoceros (photo by Joubert)

Black Rhinoceros

This muddy signpost in the park was used by a muddy rhino as a rubbing post. Rolling in mud, leaving it to dry and then rubbing the caked mud off against a sturdy rock, tree or …signpost, is a way for the rhino to rid itself of external parasites like ticks.

Signpost re-modelled by a muddy rhinoceros

Where to for our rhinos?

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The 22nd of September marked the ninth World Rhino Day. We were in the Kruger National Park on the day, appreciating and enjoying the opportunity to see these wondrous creatures in real life in their natural habitat.

White Rhino (photo by Joubert)

Where to for our rhinos?

White Rhino (photo by Joubert)

Magnificent White Rhino bull

Sadly, the scourge of rhino poaching is still very real and present, with South Africa losing a total of 769 rhinos in 2018. While this is an encouraging decline of 25% from the numbers lost in 2017, the war has by no means been won yet. In the first six months of this year, we’ve already lost 318 more rhinos, 190 of which from the Kruger National Park. We continue to rally behind our rangers looking after these animals day and night, placing their lives on the line to ensure the survival of these animals so future generations may also experience the wonder of seeing the grey behemoths walking Africa’s savannas.

We also recently had the opportunity to visit a rehabilitation centre where rhinos injured or orphaned through poaching activities are cared for. It was a sobering experience to say the least; seeing with our own eyes the horrors inflicted on these beings by humankind, and the lengths their caregivers will go to to try and save them.

A white rhino at a rehab centre

This white rhino’s leg was shattered by a poacher’s bullet. It is permanently groggy as it has to be sedated regularly for veterinary staff to tend to its wounds.

Adult Black Rhino at a rehab centre for poaching survivors

World Rhino Day 2018

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The rhino poaching scourge continues to make headlines in South Africa, and the happiness at hearing about the ranger’s regular successes in the fight is often tempered by horrible news of another mass-killing incident, insider involvement or botched prosecution. With a 26% reduction in the number of rhinos killed in the first 8 months of 2018 compared to the previous year there’s reason to be optimistic that this year, like 2015, 2016 & 2017, will see a reduction in the number of animals lost and an increase in the number of perpetrators that were apprehended.

This year, on World Rhino Day, let us appreciate and celebrate these prehistoric-looking behemoths, with thanks to the army of dedicated rangers, soldiers and volunteers fighting the war to keep them safe.

Black Rhino profile

White Rhino discussion

Angry white rhino cow defending her calf

White rhino cow with almost fully grown calf

Black Rhinoceros

White rhino bull (dehorned to protect against poaching)

White rhinos

White Rhino calf

Black rhinos

White Rhino Cow and Calf

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinos – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

The embodiment of magnificence

White Rhino

White Rhino drinking

White Rhinoceros

Black rhino sunset

White rhinoceros

White Rhino Territorial Demarcation

White rhinos

Black Rhino

White rhinos

The tiniest baby rhino we’ve ever seen

You’ll never catch me!

Don’t mess with a black rhino

White Rhinos

White rhinoceros cow and rather large calf

Black rhinos in an aggressive mood

White rhinoceros

Black Rhino

White rhinoceros

World Rhino Day

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Today is World Rhino Day.

The statistics on the number of rhinos being killed in South Africa for their horn continues to make for heart-wrenching reading. We continue to loose hundreds of black and white rhinos annually to supply an illegal black market demand from Asian countries.

But the war continues. The brave rangers working daily to protect our natural heritage have not yet given up hope, and neither should we. We’ll continue to do our part to spread the word that rhino horn has no medicinal properties, and by rights should really not be worth any more than fingernails!

Let us celebrate these prehistoric-looking beasts for the magnificent beings that they are, deserving of a place on this planet for eternity.

White Rhino calf

White Rhinoceros

White Rhinos – Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park

White Rhino drinking

Relaxed Black Rhino

White rhino

Black rhino sunset

Black rhinos in feeding mode

Black rhinos in an aggressive mood

Black rhinos

I’m coming for you!

Don’t mess with a black rhino

White rhinoceros cow and rather large calf

White rhinoceros

The embodiment of magnificence

Rhino Social Media

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White rhino bulls use dung middens to communicate their presence and demarcate their territories. They’ll also kick around in the middens to transfer the scent onto their feet and then spread it throughout their stomping grounds, communicating their ownership to interlopers.

White Rhino Territorial Demarcation

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi’s Giants

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Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park is home to giants; behemoths that can cause the earth to tremble with every step. And they’re not shy about showing themselves either, as we found out again during our visit in December.

Buffaloes were in evidence throughout the Park, whether as lone bulls, in small bachelor groups or in huge herds.

Buffalo bokeh

Buffaloes always look ready for a fight!

Buffalo cows eyeing us with suspicion

Herd enjoying a mud spa

Barrier of spears

Big Buffalo Bull

Buffaloes always look ready for a fight!

Lord and Lady Syncerus

We could never tire of seeing elephants!

Elephant Bulls enjoying a mud bath in the heat of the day

Elephant herd on the move

Tuskless Tusker

Elephant Cow and Calf

Elephant friends

Elephant trickster

Small group of elephants claiming an island in the Black Mfolozi

Big elephant herd feeding in a reedbed

Big Old Bull

The curious giraffes tower over everything else in Hluhluwe-Imfolozi, except the magnificent scenery…

Hluhluwe-Imfolozi giraffe

It is thanks to Hluhluwe Imfolozi that we can still see the Southern White Rhino in the wild today.

White Rhino

White Rhino cow and calf

White Rhino

White Rhino drinking

White Rhino

White Rhinos

We didn’t get to see the hippos on this trip, and only managed two quick sightings of black rhinos that were too fleeting for photos, but still, these galleries should be proof enough that giants still roam Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.