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Pink Horned Rhinos & Aquapods

A colourful solution to rhino horn poaching in South Africa; and diving deep for sustainable fishing.

Aquapods

With the global demand for fish on the rise and wild fish stocks depleting just as fast, the need to find an alternative to damaging shallow water fish farms is as urgent as ever.

Marine engineer Steve Page believes he has found a solution. The Aquapod is a giant structure which can hold up to 70,000 fish. It is submerged in deep water so that any uneaten food and fish waste is washed away by strong ocean currents, minimising the damage to local ecosystems.

Working in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Steve and his team are hoping their method of farming will help restore wild stocks to the ocean by preventing overfishing and offer a lifeline to fishing communities across the world.

Russell Beard goes deep sea diving in the Sea of Cortez to see the Aquapod in action and back on land visits the hatchery producing the fingerlings which would make their alternative farming operation totally sustainable.

Pink Horned Rhino

Wildlife crime is now as lucrative as trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings. And with a rhino horn fetching up to half a million US dollars on the black market, these animals are increasingly at risk.

But an innovative project in South Africa is sabotaging the poacher’s bounty. The Rhino Rescue Project is a specialist team of conservationists who are combatting the hunter’s sophisticated techniques with a special pink dye.

The liquid is infused into the rhino’s horn while the animal is sedated. The process is completely harmless to the rhino but could be fatal to any human who ingests the horn for medicinal use.

Staining the horn pink also ruins it for any ornamental purpose making it valueless to potential poachers.

Join Gelareh Darabi and conservationists fighting to protect rhinos from extinction in South Africa’s Kapama Reserve.