World Rhino Day 2019

World Rhino Day_©PeterChadwick_AfricanConservationPhotographer

World Rhino Day – It is not a day for me to celebrate but rather one where I weep at the tragedy that the species has become!

Rhino, it has become a word where every aspect of its life is manipulated by the hand of man, either through the deadly gun of a poacher that then hacks apart its prehistoric face for greed or by the chainsaw and grinder of a conservationist that is dehorning the animal in order to keep it alive and away from the horrors of wildlife crime.

Rhino, it has become a word of contradiction that shows the very worst of humanity through collusion, corruption and death while also showcasing the very best of humanity through those that toil day and night, year after year to save this wonderful icon of Africa.

Rhino, it has become a word of immense burden for it depicts the very essence of wild and of Africa and should its footprints disappear forever from the dusty soils of this great continent, then a piece of our very souls will be ripped away forever only to be replaced by the tears of regret.

May the madness for the want of its horn end and may the rhino be able to live in peace to be seen and marvelled at in wonder by the future generations who will look back and shake their heads at the craziness of this current time period.