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A handout photo made available by the World Press Photo (WPP) organization on 13 February 2017 shows a picture by Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine photographer Brent Stirton that won the Nature – First Prize, Stories award of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest, it was announced by the WPP Foundation in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on 13 February 2017. Caption: A black rhino bull is seen dead, poached for its horns less than 8 hours earlier at Hluhluwe Umfolozi Game Reserve, South Africa. It is suspected that the killers came from a local community approximately 5 kilometers away, entering the park illegally, shooting the rhino at a water hole with a high-powered, silenced hunting rifle. An autopsy and postmortem carried out by members of the KZN Ezemvelo ranger team later revealed that the large caliber bullet went straight through this rhino, causing massive tissue damage. It was noted that he did not die immediately, but ran a short distance, fell to his knees and a coup de grâce shot was administered to the head from close range. Story: Inside Kruger National Park, the largest rhinoceros reserve in the world, along the border of Mozambique and South Africa, there exists a battle between poachers and small NGOs trying to protect this rare species. After crossing the border into Mozambique, the life expectancy for a rhinoceros is 24 hours. It is an environmental crisis, caused by Asia's upper class hunger for the horn, which is worth more than gold. The horn is part of an ancient Asian medical system and today is seen as a cure for everything from cancer to kidney stones. Essentially keratin, a mild alkaline substance identical to fingernails, the horn is ground down and then ingested by the sick and the wealthy of Vietnam and China, The imbiber hopes for a miracle cure, but science has shown that it has a placebo. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine/World Press Photo)
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