A rhino horn for every ailment?

I had always thought what a fascinating creature the rhino was, so when I got an opportunity to go to Kenya a couple of years ago I thought I would have a chance to see some of these prehistoric looking animals in the wild...

My Kenyan guide Peter took me for a safari drive in Nairobi's National Park, when he asked me what I would most like to see I guess he was expecting me to say the usual - lions, leopards and elephants  but he was surprised when I said I would be happy if all I saw was just one rhino!  That was the point he told me it would be unlikely I would see any and if i wanted to be sure of getting up close with a rhino I would need to visit the conservancy centre.  I have to say I was disappointed but I'm optimistic and wildlife is unpredictable so you never know...

Twenty minutes into our drive I was scanning the horizon with my binoculars and yes there in the distance was what looked like a white rhino - off we went for a closer look.  I didn't realise at the time just how lucky I was, there are only about 300 or so white rhino's in Kenya [Save the Rhino International]. Through the rest of the game drive we saw a further six rhino's including a mother and baby!

The story of the white rhino is a conservation success story, only 100 years ago they were on the brink of extinction with only around 100 individuals [savingrhinos.org], their population is now up to around 17,500 although nearly all of this population resides in South Africa.

Despite this success story the other four species of rhino are in trouble and with the recent increase in poaching to supply rhino horn to the chinese medicine market, they still need our help.... The Chinese believe that rhino horn is a cure for every ailment.  According to Saving Rhinos LLC, rhino horn is purely made of the same stuff as our hair and nails and has no known medicinal properties, which is what makes the rhino's plight even more sad - they are being brutally murdered for absolutely no reason whatsoever apart from profit based on misguided beliefs!

I have been back to Kenya several times now and have just got back from another trip where I was lucky enough to come across two groups of white rhinos where I took this shot with Lake Nakuru in the background...

If you want to help rhinos in their plight you can join these conservation groups and get talking about them on facebook and twitter...

Saving Rhinos LLC

Save the Rhino International