Episode 5: Suspicious activity

Wildlife poaching is big business and rhino horn worth more than gold. The only thing standing between South Africa’s animals and possible extinction is a new breed of anti-poaching rangers. They come from a wide range of backgrounds, but they have one thing in common – they are prepared to lay their lives on the line for Africa’s wildlife.

Editor’s note: This series was originally broadcast in 2013. 

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In episode five, some of the trainee rangers come face-to-face with a poacher as they learn to trust their instincts. 

At the Shamwari wildlife reserve, ranger Lionel learns how to identify individual rhinos, and discovers that lions are also in danger of being poached as their bones are used in Chinese medicine.  

Chrisjan and Freddie, meanwhile, stumble across a poacher’s camp and come across dogs hunting in the reserve. Following their tracks, they discover a drain running below a road, which the poachers use as a way under the electric fences that surround the reserve. They pull a suspicious car over and discover a cache of weapons.

Chrisjan says: “Sometimes it feels as if something is going on. This one, it didn’t feel right . These guys were up to something.”