Everyone,
It is with a heavy heart and tears in my eyes that I write
to tell you that our old rhino was poached today. Both horns were taken. He had
outlived our dimmest prognosis and was on the steady road to recovery: eating
well, traveling large distances, and marking his territory. We were planning to
visit him this Saturday to check up on him and give him one last treatment. I
was so excited to see him again and to witness his progress. We all were so
hopeful.
Cassie woke me from my nap to tell me that dinner was ready,
and then told me about our rhino. I could barely eat dinner because I was
physically nauseous. Even now, it feels like a fist is clenched around my heart
that refuses to let go. The world has lost a stoic, majestic creature all for
the greed and superstitions of man. Why must the priorities of man trump those
of every other creature on the planet? Why can we not share the planet with our
fellow species, instead of monopolizing every resource and killing animals that
get in the way of that goal? Why do humans have to be so selfish?
Cassie and I have interacted with and anti-poached over 20
rhino thus far, and this is the first time one has been poached. I had not
realized how profoundly I had been affected by working with these exquisite
creatures until we lost one. I now have some idea how the South Africans feel.
They grew up with rhino and cherish them as a national treasure, an emblem of
power and beauty. They are the pith of the South African soul. Bit by bit, the
Taiwanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Saudi Arabian superstitions are chipping
pieces of that soul away, to be consumed as a perceived aphrodisiac or to be
made into a dagger hilt. These are not necessities.
People do not need rhino horn to
survive. They just refuse to use Viagra.
And crawling on
the planet’s face
some insects
called the human race
lost in time
and lost in space
and meaning.
--“Superheros,”
Rocky Horror Picture Show
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