Rural Area Veterinary Services (RAVS), part of the Access to Care division of Humane World for Animals, is a veterinary outreach program combining direct care and professional mentorship to bring high-quality medical care to animals in underserved communities, where resource inequities and geographic isolation make regular veterinary services inaccessible.

The sound of helicopter blades cutting through the South African sky signaled the start of our mission. Below, a team of veterinarians, naturalists, and anti-poaching officers prepared to do something that has become heartbreakingly necessary for one of the planet’s most iconic species: remove a rhino’s horn to save its life.