Even though today is such a lovely, sunny, spring day, Ruben is feeling very hopeless and upset.

Ruben is a Rhinoceros. He is of beautiful black and white colour, with very prominent horns. He loves his horns! Not only does he use it when he plays with mom and dad but he also uses it in battles over territory and to defend himself against other wild animals.

Did you know?

Rhino horns are made of keratin –the same substance that makes up human hair and fingernails
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Ruben is still a baby, eating vegetation but don’t underestimate him!! He understands much more than everyone thinks. Today he overheard a conversation between daddy and Uncle Buck regarding the neighbors. They were found slaughtered to death and de-horned. Uncle Buck said it was a dreadful sight, one he’ll never forget.

"Daddy calls them poachers, I call them murderers. "It is barbaric and cruel to kill us for our horns. Take it if you so desperately want it but don’t kill us in the process."

Wouldn’t it be excruciating though? Uncle Buck is of the opinion that as long as they don’t cut into the horn bed it is not painful at all. I don’t know…they do it with a chainsaw for crying out loud!!!

Valued for their horns, they face a dire threat from poaching, which is rapidly pushing them towards extinction. Their horns are used in traditional Chinese medicine, as well as carved into jewelry, dagger handles and other trinkets. Rhino horns have become so valuable on the black market...

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They have become so endangered, that breeding has become next to impossible and their genetic diversity is almost non-existent.

My teacher Mrs Jones said that a horn has the ability to grow back to almost full size, but it can take up to three years. Unless they have cut into the skull, then it can’t grow back. "We can survive without horns, it will just be difficult to protect ourselves."

"I suppose that is why mommy never wants me to wander off too far; she is scared the same will happen to me. Does the humans not understand what will happen if the earth has no more Rhino’s?? We put pressure on different plant communities. We are grazers, we are important for maintaining diversity. We are also lawn mowers…The more short grass lawns, the more diverse the landscape!"

Mrs Jones says it is difficult for the Kruger National Park Reserve owners to protect us due to a lack of funds and qualified staff and so many poachers waiting to attack.

If I could say anything to these criminals, it would be:

You better run because if we are any faster than you, even a little, we will hunt YOU to death!! You are not trophy-hunters; you are cowards and this at the expense of us!