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But there's a hidden crisis unfolding across Africa that dwarfs these headlines. Every single day, across every habitat. While around 20,000 elephants are killed annually for ivory. Millions of African animals disappear into the bushmeat trade. This is bushmeat hunting, and it's happening everywhere. The Congo Basin alone consumes up to 4 million tons of wildlife every year. Scientific research has identified 301 mammal species threatened by bushmeat hunting. From common antelope to zebras to iconic species, nothing is safe.

In the latest case, people living around the arid northern community of Khorixas looked out one morning last month to find a new road being bulldozed through an area they had been managing, together with the tourism company Ultimate Safaris and the nonprofit Save The Rhinos Trust, as habitat for black rhinos, an endangered species. The conservancies, together with the tourism company, went to court, alleging that the road, and mining project it will serve, showed up on the scene "without any consultation" with them.

In the war on poaching, some of the best defenders have four legs. Trained canines are used in some of South Africa's national parks to detect wildlife contraband like rhino horns, pangolin scales, and ivory at airports and roadblocks. Other dogs are trained to track and apprehend poachers in the field. According to Save the Rhino, 9,885 rhinos have been lost to poaching in the last decade. But Carl Thornton, founder and director of Pit-Track K9 Conservation and Anti-Poaching Unit, says the numbers are likely much higher.