Rhino are synonymous with Africa and safaris, yet their horns, the features that give them their unique and recognisable profile, make them targets for relentless poaching. With poaching driven by a global demand in traditional medicines, with a single horn sometimes fetching up to $250,000 USD in parts of Asia. Without intervention, the future of white and black rhino in Africa would be grim.
Thankfully, the rhino have determined people and organisations on their side. And, with hunting and conservation symbiotic on the African continent, it’s no surprise that some of the most recognisable names in big game hunting are stepping up to do their part. They include bona fide legend of big game hunting Robin Hurt and his wife Pauline with their Habitat for Rhino project.
On their 20,000-acre wilderness property in Namibia’s Gamsberg region, the Hurts have been working tirelessly for over two decades. When they took stewardship of the land, rhino had long vanished from the area. Determined to give back for a lifetime of earning a livelihood in the wilds of Africa, the Hurts are reintroducing these magnificent creatures to their natural habitat. Starting with just five animals in 2014, the herd has grown to 13 free-roaming rhino, including a female calf born in 2022. She was named ‘Miss Rigby’ to mark an exciting partnership that was in the pipeline at the time.
The rhino at Gamsberg are protected by a team of rangers who patrol the rugged terrain on foot round-the-clock, covering up to 20km per shift. These people are the unsung heroes of the anti-poaching drive, risking their lives on a regular basis for the cause. Habitat for Rhino costs the Hurts around $100,000 per year. Sometimes it might be less, while other years it reaches and even exceeds $130,000. In times of drought, food supplementation is needed, or consistent pressure from poachers can demand more travel, logistics and equipment for the rangers. Despite these efforts, the risks remain high: the Hurts have endured the heartbreak of losing a young bull to poaching.
Robin advocates for decriminalising the trade of rhino horn, proposing a sustainable alternative where horns are humanely harvested under anaesthesia, allowing rhinos to regrow them multiple times. This approach, he argues, would reduce the financial incentive for poaching while keeping rhino alive. But as long as the trade remains illegal, poaching will continue and so financial support for conservation projects is critical.
Revenue from plains game hunting and photographic safaris on the Hurt’s properties sustains Habitat for Rhino. As Robin explains, conservation doesn’t mean protecting something, it’s about maintaining something and tending to it so that it thrives. Robin and his team of Professional Hunters and staff are guardians of the landscape, caring for the large numbers of wild animals that live on their land. That work comes before anything else, because, Robin says, there’s no meaningful livelihood for their staff and themselves without sustainable habitat and thriving wildlife. It must be stressed that no rhino are or ever will be hunted at Gamsberg.
In 2023, recognising the importance of the Hurt’s efforts at Gamsberg, Rigby produced a limited-edition run of 12 London Best rifles in .350 Rigby, each engraved with the name of a rhino from Habitat for Rhino and the project’s logo. The .350 calibre was chosen specifically because it’s not a suitable rhino gun, perfect instead for plains game. Robin also shared that a .350 was the very first Rigby rifle that he ever used, so it’s a fitting choice on many levels.
The 12 rifles have been completely handmade in Rigby’s London workshop on Mauser single square bridge actions, taking designs, proportions and dimensions from the brand’s historic archives. A significant portion of the proceeds from each rifle’s sale will go directly to support the project.
Thanks to dedication from the Hurts and others like them, there are glimmers of hope for rhino conservation. In 2023, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reported the first increase in southern white rhino populations in a decade. However, the road ahead remains challenging. The Hurts aim to expand their project by growing the land it encompasses and strengthening their anti-poaching team, and support from companies like Rigby, and their customers, is a crucial step forward.
As Robin remarked, as the sun sank behind the Namibian mountains, it will mean our children and grandchildren will be able to see rhino flourishing, back in their natural home. And that means everything.
