Year after year, outrage after outrage; it seems there will never be an end to poaching.
There’s a bitter and sad truth to the fact that some
species are being pushed to the very edge of extinction by trophy hunting. Take
African rhinos for example, often killed for their horns and the money they can
make on the black market.
In one particularly tragic recent case, rescuers came
across a mother rhino who had been killed by poachers. Her baby had been set
upon as well, though had stayed with his deceased mom, unsure of what to do
alone …
When rescuers came across the horrifying scene, they
realized the baby was still alive. Whilst it was too late to try and save the
mother, they took the baby with them in the hope that he could be saved.
As per Petronel Niewouldt of the Care for Wild Team:
“It was instinctive for him to try and stay close to his mother to protect her,
and the poachers with no sympathy or hesitation whatsoever lashed out at him so
that they could finish their heinous crime of taking his mother’s horn as
quickly as possible.”
The team transported the baby to Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary,
the world’s largest rhino sanctuary and orphanage. He had a machete wound on
his back, one of his toenails had been cut to the nailbed, and he was
terrified.
After sedating the caldf, a plastic surgeon was called
in to stitch up the woods, with an emphasis placed on leaving as little
scarring as possible.
Surviving the ordeal
The rescuers say that the baby, whom they named Arthur,
is now doing well in recovery. However, he still pines for his mother, not
understanding that she can never return. For the team, it’s a particularly
heartbreaking sound.
“He still calls for his mother, it is a heart-wrenching
sound and one that he should never have to make. Her death will affect him
emotionally long after his physical wounds have healed.”
In the wild, a rhino calf stays with his/her mother for
up to three and a half years, during which time she’ll teach her baby
everything they need to know. Even if Arthur had survived the ordeal naturally,
the team know he would have died through being unable to fend for himself.
They explain: “A rhino calf stays with his mother for
up to three years and in that time, she teaches him everything he needs to
know, from what to eat and how to keep himself safe. She will teach him how to
behave when in the company of other rhino and he will learn everything
necessary from her so that he has a good chance of growing into a strong adult.
Who is going to teach him now?”
Poaching needs to be stopped and stopped
now. Regulations and rules are getting ever tighter, but until a definitive
solution is found, surely we can’t hope to prevent innocent animals like Arthur
and his mother falling victim to those without a heart.
If you stand against animal poaching, share
this post with your friends and family on Facebook. We have to work together to
make change!
Source : newsner.com