Animals, animals, animals! (And please save the rhino)

This past Saturday marked what is likely to be Ellie and I's last trip to see the animals. We were joined by Daniel, an intern at LRC with me, and Ben, an intern at the Human Rights Commission. We packed up for the drive up to Hluhluwe (and had a laugh or two about the various pronunciations we could come up with for haloo-haloo-wee (not the correct pronunciation)). We did have to make one quick stop at a local bottle shop for some beer. Ellie and Ben were staying in the car (apparently Ellie promptly locked all the doors once we got out). Daniel and I were greeted with a few wishes of Merry Christmas, and a few more of Happy New Year! We returned the wishes of happiness. Daniel then negotiated the two six packs for R100 when the girl announced that she only knew how much one of them was and would have to phone the owner about the cost of the other. R100 it is.

So we arrived at the Hluhluwe park gates and were ready for a game drive. It was Ben's first time on a game drive and the first time in a long time for Daniel. It was Ellie's third time at Hluhluwe in the past 6 months. Anyways, Ellie was in charge of the route, Daniel of driving, Ben snacks and me, watching for animals. I wasn't particularly good at my job this time. But we did have some pretty successful sightings. The highlight was actually probably a group of five giraffe. We were the only car and they seemed very okay with us being there. 

Giraffe seem to me to be one of those creatures that as a child seem almost made-up. They are so different from anything we have back home and really so different from any other creature. 

How can you not love that face?

Anyways, we also had some sightings of one of my favourite African creatures, again mainly because I find them quite amusing, particularly when they run with their little tails straight up in the air - warthogs. Whenever I see a warthog, two songs go through my head...

When he was a young warthog - When I was a young warthoooooog! - Very nice - Thanks - He found his aroma like a certain appeal, he could clear the savannah after every meal - I'm a sensitive soul, though I seem thick skinned, and it hurt that my friends never stood down wiiiiiiiind! And oh the shame - he was ashamed - thought a change in my name - oh what's in a name - and I got downhearted - how did you feel? - every time that I - hey, Pumba, not in front of the kids! - Oh sorry. 

And the second song - 

Are ya achin', yep yep, for some bacon, yep yep, he's a big pig, yep yep, you can be a big pig too! Oy!

Yes, I thank Disney's Lion King for the wonderful sound track that goes through my head on a regular occasion here. I just can't help it. The bonus this time was that Ben liked to sing the songs. 

Ok, on from the warthogs. We also saw a very large male elephant, along with an idiot German tourist who seemed to think it was a good idea to get out of his car to get closer to the elephant. Good plan sir. Daniel and I decided it would be appropriate to inform this man that not only was this a very poor decision, it was also against the law. It's kinda like the dumb tourists in Waterton who think getting out of the car to get a photo of a bear is also a good idea - not so people. Not so. (Sorry Dave, I don't mean that you are dumb, just a dumb moment).

So, although we saw a decent amount of large game, we also had some slow moments. Once you've been driving for half an hour and don't see anything, you start paying attention to two things - interesting trees (yeah, I know, but they make for some beautiful photos) and birds. Now, I am not a bird person. In fact, they kinda gross me out. Funny that my favourite animal is a bird, so maybe it is only the ones that have working wings that I don't really like. Penguins and ostriches get the ok from me. But here in South Africa, birds are a bit more exciting than the ones we have at home (a little more colourful) and if it is a slow game drive, bird spotting becomes more interesting. Plus, this time, we had Daniel, who actually knew the names of most of the birds. Don't know the name of this one, but I think it is pretty. In a yucky bird kind of way. 

After the game and bird watching, we made it to Hilltop Camp where we would stay for the night. It was a lovely braai for dinner thanks to Daniel, and Ellie as sous-chef. Plus we had smores and milk tart for dessert. Yum. 

Ben and I may have been a little less helpful - first going for a swim, Ben sorting out marshmallow sticks and me taking pictures. 

Day two - rain, but still some good sightings. 

Plus, more birds. 

But one of the real reasons to come to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve is to see a rhinoceros, or 11. Hluhluwe has one of the most successful rhino rehabilitation programs in the world, but really, this is a drop in the bucket. There are five species of rhino in the world, two native to Africa and three native to Asia. The African species, the black and the white rhino are both indigenous to the Hluhluwe area, although this trip we only saw white rhinos. All five species of rhino are listed as endangered, with three of the species being listed as critically endangered (including the black rhino). It is estimated that there are 17,000 white rhino still in the wild and only 2400 black rhino. I think the scariest thing is that rhino poaching only seems to be getting worse. I am often heard commenting about the happy animal stories, you know at the end of news casts when, after all the bad news, they report that some baby animal was born in some random zoo? Yeah, those stories. Unfortunately the news stories about animals here in SA, tend to be about the most recent incident of rhino poaching in Kruger or Hluhluwe or some private game park. In fact, already in 2012, 117 rhinos have been killed for their horns in SA alone. Last year the total was an all time high of 448 rhinos. If this year continues as is, last years total will once again be surpassed. 

The thing that makes me most angry about this, is that, in actual scientific fact, there is no use for the rhino horn. The horns are made of keratin. Yep, the same stuff as human hair and finger nails. And yet, some Asian cultures believe the rhino horn has certain medicinal properties - none of which have been scientifically proven. My suggestion - you can have all the hair in my hair brush and I will collect my nail clippings as well. We can grind them up just the same and you can have your keratin that way. Leave the poor rhinos alone. The other reality with rhinos - they are predictable. They are easily hunted as they have certain daily routines that will often result in them returning to the same spot in the territory on a regular basis. When a poacher is able to identify one of these locations, all they have to do is wait. 

So, I really don't know what to do. I have lots of far off ideas of what we could do to the poachers who are caught, unscientific ideas of how we could help the rhino to protect itself, but really, I have no idea what to do. So, here's my little way of making more people aware. These are some of the rhinos we saw this past weekend. We saw two rhino calves as well as a number of adult rhinos. The reality - it is entirely possible that at least one of these rhinos won't make it through the year. I am leaving it to people more educated than myself to figure out what to do, but awareness is a start. I just hope that at least some of you will also have the opportunity to see a rhino in the wild some time in the future and that there are still rhinos out there for you to see. 

See that calf - yep, it's nursing. 

Rhinos like mud. A lot. Sorry that this one is not really in focus, but that's what happens sometimes. 

Rhinos are kind of easy to see. They are big and lumber around a lot.