Thousands of rhinos and South African reserve put up for auction by conservationist

John Hume, the octogenarian selling the philanthropic project, says $150m he spent to protect rhinos was well worth it

A hotspot for poaching, South Africa is home to nearly 80 per cent of the world's rhinos. AFP

A man in his 80s who has spent millions on a 30-year quest to save the rhinoceros has put his beloved South African reserve up for auction.

John Hume owns the world's largest rhino farm, and has spent his fortune trying to keep it from closing.

"I'm left with nothing except 2,000 rhinos and 8,000 hectares of land," the 81 year old said in an interview with AFP before this week's sale.

South Africa is home to nearly 80 per cent of the world's rhinos, making it a hotspot for poaching driven by demand from Asia, where horns are used in traditional medicine for their supposed therapeutic effect.

The government said 448 of the rare animals were killed across the country last year, only three fewer than in 2021 despite increased protection at national parks such as the renowned Kruger.

Poachers have increasingly targeted privately owned reserves in their hunt for horns, which consist mainly of hard keratin, the same substance found in human nails.

They are highly sought after on black markets, where the price per weight rivals that of gold at an estimated $60,000 a kilogram.

Mr Hume said that over the years he has spent about $150 million on his philanthropic project to save the world's second-largest land mammal.

"From a rhino point of view, it was definitely worth it," the bespectacled octogenarian, wearing a chequered shirt, said in a Zoom interview.

"There are many more rhinos on Earth than when I started the project."

A former businessman who made his fortune developing tourist resorts, Mr Hume said he fell in love with the animals almost by accident having bought the first specimen after retiring with dreams of running a farm.

"I've used all my life savings spending on that population of rhinos for 30 years. And I finally ran out of money," he said.

His heavily guarded farm, at an undisclosed location in North West province, has about 2,000 southern white rhinos — a species that was hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century but recovered gradually thanks to decades of protection and breeding efforts.

Today, the Red List compiled by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) categorises white rhinos as "near threatened", with about 18,000 left following a decline in the past decade.

Miles of fences, cameras, heat detectors and an army of rangers patrol the site, which employs about 100 people.

The tight security is meant to dissuade would-be poachers by sending the message that "they don't stand a chance", said the farm's head of security Brandon Jones.

Speaking from the control room, however, Mr Jones said the exercise was only partially successful, as poachers will merely kill rhinos elsewhere.

"We are simply diverting them from our reserve," he said. "We know that they will target areas where it is easier to penetrate and where the risk-reward ratio is to their advantage."

The full extent of the security measures taken and the number of armed rangers on guard have been kept secret.

Yet Mr Hume said surveillance is the farm's biggest cost — and potential buyers will need deep pockets.

"I'm hoping that there is a billionaire that would rather save the population of rhinos from extinction than own a superyacht," said Mr Hume, a gruff and outspoken man.

"Maybe somebody for whom $5 million a year is small change."

Bidding will start at $10 million.

The online auction opens on Wednesday, with the farm, its animals, land and machinery on offer.

Adding its 10-tonne stock of rhino horn to the lot is negotiable, said Mr Hume.

The horns were cut off as a way to dissuade poachers from killing the animals — and would be worth more than $500 million on the black market.

Mr Hume believes they should be sold to fund conservation projects, creating a legal market for them.

"I have the solution. But the rest of the world and the NGOs don't agree. And we are losing the war," he lamented.

"Unfortunately, on the black market a horn from a dead rhino is still worth more than a live rhino."