A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Hi Smith's Zoo - I just changed it from you know where to "in the bush"... and the google map plonked me in South Japan!! I'll remove the relevant tags too.
Thank you Satyen, Ashish and Wendy...
"Awareness of the Chinese population on the ineffectiveness of the pharmacological properties of rhino horn would be the ultimate solution." In the spirit of Hubert the Lion (a children's book from way back when) who was haughty and vain and mightily proud of his elegant mane... I want to go back to my idea of presenting the Chinese and Vietnamese govt's with many, many plaits of HAIR. Thin plaits, donated from all around South Africa and even the world. This will surely assist with the raising of awareness? - "Have my Hair, not my Rhino Horn" - Hubert's Hair-raising Adventure! We've got to do something... are you with me?
Hi Smith's Zoo
These seem to be the closest to me in Swellendam. Historically I cannot say for sure, but there must have been more...
2 rhinos dehorned in Western Cape | News24
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/2...
Cape Town - Two rhinos were darted and dehorned at Fairy Glen Private Game Reserve in Worcester, near Cape Town, according to a news report on Monday.
Both survived the attack by a gang of poachers, but one of them had to have an abortion due to the strain the attack put on her body, the Cape Times newspaper reported.
Game farm owner Pieter de Jager said that his staff found the rhino bleeding and unconscious.
The rhinos had been darted with an overdose of M99, a morphine drug, and their horns were hacked off with pangas.
A Worcester hospital was able to provide an antidote for the drug and vet Roland Bellstedt was attending to the mutilated rhino.
The darts were sent for forensic analysis in the hope of apprehending the poachers. De Jager said it was difficult to defend the animals.
"Aside from sleeping next to my animals at night, guarding them in the bush, there is nothing I can do.
"The poachers are well-trained armed criminals," he said.
Hi Smith's Zoo
It is a pleasure to be part of your mission, unfortunately there are no rhino's left in our area of Swellendam... What we can help with down here is promoting Rhino Conservation with the walks, from time to time, as well as assisting website owners with having Mobile Friendly webpages, viewable and usable on all makes of mobile phone, thereby increasing awareness and making it easy for any user to offer contributions to such conservation efforts.
See www.mobi4u.co.za for more info.
The whiskers are apparently used to keep bugs out of their eyes whilst flying at night.
Hey Joseph, thanks for your comment. My husband disturbed them accidentally and we went back with the camera. Did you notice the baby behind the mother?
Hi Gordon, thanks for your comments. On this particular day I happened to have my camera as I was off to look for the Yellow-Billed Duck I had seen the previous day and right there outside my front door (at the farm I used to stay on in Stanford) were the Blue Cranes - I must have taken about 180 photos...