The dogs, including beagles and bloodhounds, among other breeds, were trained from birth to track down poachers alongside humans in Greater Kruger National Park. The project is run by Southern African Wildlife College and Ivan Carter Wildlife Conservation Alliance.

People around the world rose up to protest police violence and racial injustice.

In the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, protests arose in nearly all major cities across the United States. They broke out globally, too, extending to more than 60 countries in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against racial injustice and police brutality.

Polio was officially eradicated on the African continent.

In August, the World Health Organization announced that Africa is free from wild poliovirus, leaving just two countries where the virus remains a threat (Afghanistan and Pakistan).

NASA launched its most advanced rover yet to Mars and landed a spacecraft on an asteroid

In 2020, NASA launched its most advanced rover yet to Mars and landed a spacecraft on an asteroid. And, for the first time since the Space Shuttle retired in 2011, a SpaceX rocket sent American astronauts to the International Space Station.

The biggest vaccination campaign in history has begun.

In November, drug maker Pfizer announced it had created a vaccine that was more than 90% effective. Days later, Moderna announced it had developed a vaccine with similarly positive results: a drug that is 94% effective.