Neil – who holds a master's degree in photojournalism from University of the Arts London – now lectures in Marine and Natural History Photography at Falmouth University. Between the African wild dogs and the rhinos in Botswana, he's worked on conservation projects about the Okavango Delta, the importance of the captivity breeding of birds, and Britain's uneasy relationship with the fox. For his next project he's tackling the issue of badger culling in the UK.
"It's not easy telling positive stories about negative issues," he says. "It takes time. It takes dedication. I've done this for 10 years and what drives me on is to see that people are taking notice of my work, switching on to these causes, and supporting the wonderful, inspiring people who are doing incredible work in the field. That's how I measure success in my work. Rather than Facebook likes or Instagram followers, it's about reaching people."
What happened to Neil's young rhino? When he first started visiting Botswana, he says, there were no rhinos. Now if you fly over the Okavango Delta and look down, you see scores of wild rhinos living free in the wilderness. "It's the fruits of the labour of everyone involved in that process," he says.
Rhino monitors recently spotted Neil's young rhino in the Delta. It was fat, healthy, and with its mother. "Apparently he takes exception to the presence of people," Neil says. "Good news!"