Remembering Ian Player, the 'bare-back cowboy' who saved the southern white rhino – Paul Gardiner

Dr Ian Player was a globally recognised wildlife pioneer credited with saving the Southern African white rhino. Often riding bareback, he pioneered techniques to dart and immobilise rhinos, helping their numbers recover from just 437 individuals in the 1950s. In a fireside chat, eco-conservationist Paul Gardiner pays tribute to Player's legendary work, sharing never-before-seen footage and an interview where Player describes how he helped to figure out how to dart and immobilise rhinos who often woke up too quickly after an antidote. The discussion also includes an interview with golf legend Gary Player, Ian's brother, who was inspired by his sibling's determination. Gardiner reveals Player conceived the Dusi canoe marathon while in Italy during the Second World War, an event he won twice. Gardiner credits Ian Player as an inspiration for the Shamwari Game Reserve and Gardiner's own ecotourism work, including bringing a Vietnamese pop star to South Africa to raise rhino poaching awareness.