A Letter to Our Rhinos on #WorldRhinoDay2015

I hope and pray for your safety on this day when the world celebrates you.

I’ve been following your footsteps closely for the past 18-months and I’ve had many ups and downs over this period. Last week was particularly difficult for me to once again witness what my species is capable of.

One of you survived a brutal attack and to say a front horn was removed doesn’t do justice to the violation that was committed. No… gouged and pulled from your face while you were drugged…and it’s hard to believe it could get worse, but it did… your four-month old calf witnessed this and both of you are now on the road to recovery.

Of course my words of sorry and forgiveness are empty…

I’ve spent days on end with the people at the frontlines of this war… and yes it is a war, let’s not fool ourselves.

Hard to believe, but there are some who don’t like to call it that. I know it must be hard for you to trust any human and I don’t blame you, but there are people out there who deeply care for you and are trying their best to save you.

But sadly on my journey, I’ve also seen firsthand how you’ve been let down.

How did we get here? Not easy to answer in a country compromised by corruption, poverty and greed. But the problem goes much further; it travels across the ocean, and this is my reason for visiting Vietnam at the end of the month.

I will try my best to understand that world and hopefully have an answer for you.

The news channels are currently dominated by the migrant crisis in Europe… I guess the meaning of the phrase ‘migrant crisis’ can be hard to grasp, until you see the footage on television. I hope that when ‘STROOP’ is released showing the story of you, of your species brutally mutilated and many many of you hacked to death, well maybe then humanity will grasp the true meaning of this war.

They say nearly 20-million people have been forced to flee their home countries. I wonder if you would do the same if you could? If you would leave South Africa and move to Botswana or even further away, to Australia like many say you should. Or would you choose to stay?

I come across many people who feel despondent and don’t know how to help you. I continue to tell them that we need to keep sharing your stories until your plight becomes part of mainstream culture. I want them to remove the excuse, ‘I didn’t know’ or ‘I couldn’t do anything’.

Ordinary people aren’t aware of the extraordinary power they have inside them to start movements which ultimately make the world a better place.

And I refuse to accept a world without your species in it.

No painting, photograph or object of any kind will ever replace you, the living, breathing animal. Know that I will not give up, until you no longer have to graze in fear.

Your human friend,

Bonné

Watch Afrikaans Rhino Film ‘STROOP’ Trailer

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet of the important film that Bonné de Bod is working on, here we go – “‘STROOP’ is an Afrikaans film about a woman’s journey to find out what South Africans are doing to ensure the survival of rhinos.”

https://youtu.be/ApegYlOo7MM