I was honoured to be chosen as a student winner in the
Ecology in Action category of BES' 2017 Capturing Ecology photo competition.
The photo was one I took when working in Kwazulu-Natal in South Africa. A game capture team was on the reserve to translocate one of the white rhino bulls to a different reserve to prevent inbreeding. After herding him down from the hills using a small helicopter, he was darted by the vet. As the sedatives started to take effect, the team ran in to blindfold him. Haste was necessary to ensure he was sedated for the least amount of time as was possible. After a quick health check, the sedation was reversed and while still drowsy we helped him to his feet and pushed him into his travel crate as fast as we possibly could as you don't want to be around when a grumpy two-tonne male rhino wakes up from sedation. He was taken safely to another reserve a long drive away and a young male arrived on our reserve two days later to allow breeding to continue.