The 2nd of November had the stats standing at 825 Rhinos poach this year…. this is disgusting considering the history as shown in the stats below.. picture supplied by
The WESSA Rhino Initiative…
We have even gone to the extent of disfiguring the Rhino by cutting off the horn for which they are poach giving us an animal that looks like this one below…
Now I do agree we have to do what we can to save the Rhino but does the above compare to the photos below.???
What the poor animal has to go through just to survive…
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 
Vanessa Chapman directed me to this post. I am a huge champion of rhinos, and I truly appreciate your words and photography, and your comments to your followers!
I wish the numbers had decreased since you posted the stats here, but sadly, things aren’t looking much better for rhinos in 2014, are they.
Thank you Kate for the visit… no unfortunate things are not improving… The death toll of poachers is increasing but is having no effect on the poaching at all…. I was so encouraged by the injecting of dye and poison, but I’m afraid that seems to be not that successful…. hell I say pump them full with a poison that kills and let those that buy it take their chances…
I think it’s time to re-erect a couple of the ex-Rhodesian army units that were so successful on their boarder and let them loose on these guys with no restrictions… Damn I’ll be there so damn fast it won’t be true…
Slaughter the poachers in public with a firing squad. Bet you didn’t think I was so brutal, but I love the wildlife of your country! So wrong to poach this animal. Oh how I would like to see one from your lens. Beautiful!
I would happily attach them to the back of my vehicle and drag them past a pride of lion drive slowly so that the lion can give chase and then slowly accelerate to keep them running their legs off till they succumb to a lion fang… ohhhh it sounds so good…
Can I be in the front seat with you? I’m so with you on this!
you are welcome…
I too have seen a documentary on rhino poaching. It is so sad to think that such a grand animal is being disfigured just to stay alive! Sadly this is just an all too frequent sign of the greed of humans.
You are so right… it just seems a pity we as a country can’t get a handle on it… and to be honest I don’t know what the answer is…
meravigliose immagini!!
I saw a documentary on Sunday rhinos and the poachers.
On trade in horns.
How is it that the human being is so bad?
Fortunately, not all are like that.
You are doing everything possible to limit the damage.
your photographs pay tribute to this majestic animal.
Poachers are a scourge that must be eliminated.
To avoid that rhinos are exterminated, the horn is sawed, but the poachers to take away the only piece left kill them anyway.
In the documentary, the poachers are destritti as heartless people.
They kill everything that appears before …
There is also another trade that has taken place .. the bones of lions that are used to prepare drugs or anything like that.
Thank you so much for these wonderful pictures.
vento
Thank you so much for this comment… just as you say.. the trade being done in all of these things is reaching new heights of demand… and I’m not sure what humanity is going to have to do to save these animals from becoming extinct…
May these poachers come back as animals, only, by then, may humans be more humane…
I agree… and when they come back may they be poached, wounded and left to suffer a slow death again…
Well, I was thinking that, but my Buddhist training held me back from saying it. Thank you for saying it. Some people deserve to suffer the way they make others suffer…
The 21st century of humanity and some still live in superstitious ignorance.
That is correct… the only thing is I have a worry the rhino won’t out live those older superstitious ignorant people…
I know this is a very passionate cause for you, Bulldog. I think it is truly disgusting.
Thank you.. the numbers just continue to grow…
and I hear that the rhino horn has no healing attributes whatsoever….. so it is all for nothing, poor rhino. They should use their own fingernails for the purpose they chase the Rhino for. It does look proud wiht the horn and that is how God made the animal and not for us to change that.
Thank you for htis great post!
You are quite correct the horn has no healing or enhancing properties at all… we have even sent envoys to the different countries that we know these horns are sent to to try to educate the people… obviously it has had no effect… such a pity…
This is a subject very near to my heart, and yours. Thank you for blogging about it.
Thank you… you know how I feel about it … want to put on my army kit again and go on out and hunt poachers…
Wow, these shots are fabulous! I have pics of rhinos sleeping – they are amazing animals. I think that a well-placed horn in the right place would get the poachers singing soparano and revising their “career” options 🙂
I would prefer to see a deeper penetration that would ensure they never think of poaching again… but thanks for the visit and comment…
These are amazing shots! Thank you for speaking out. I cannot comprehend the mindset of a person who would willfully or carelessly drop a piece of litter on the ground, but to kill one of these magnificent creatures when they are already on the brink of extinction!
I so agree with you Naomi… it is heart breaking when we don’t seem to be able to get it under control….
Horrifying. and it is all derived from superstition, how a people like the chinese with all their knowledge over the centuries could still believe a rhino horn will be of any use to them at all. The poachers themselves must the lowest from of humanity.. and your land is so big, how does one protect a wild animal from wild animals with guns. I cannot bear it. It is a dreadful battle.. c
Thanks C… we just don’t seem to be winning this battle even though the army is now involved… and special units have been created… I hope things turn soon as we are now reaching a negative birth rate.. i.e. more being killed than born… terrifying…
Disgusting indeed. Keep shining the light on the butchers…yours are beautiful!
Thank you Mrs. P.
If theres one thing I loath above everything else its animal cruelty. I personally would take the poachers and chop bits off them! Sorry bulldog, but I soon get on my soap box with this subject. Love your photos by the way. 🙂
Thanks Amanda… when one sees some of the photos of babies protecting their dead mothers from the axe welding poachers I can assure you, should it ever happen in front of me, the poachers would suffer a very slow death with little bits being chopped off at a time… some of the Rhino are drugged and before death their horns removed… if I could only get my hands on one or two of them…!!!!!
Well i wish you luck with that. I don’t how how you do it bulldog, I would be in the depths of depression having to witness that. Most of the time I can’t even listen to the news! Cruelty to animals seems to invade my soul and haunts me beyond belief.
In my book anybody who doesn’t have compassion for all creatures is not human. These ‘throwback’ people wouldn’t exist at all if it were up to me!!
I can’t figure out what the poachers’ want the horns for? Trophy hunting, or some kind of Chinese ‘medicine’?
It’s just tragic.
It is for Chinese medicine that in actual fact has no medicinal properties at all… in fact it is the same as ones own finger nails…
I find this whole business so sickening, bulldog. What a scourge of the earth these poachers are. 😦
You can say that again… we just don’t seem to be able to get an upper hand in this fight…
It’s hard to believe there are people so stupid as to believe that consuming anything in the shape of a horn improves their manhood. It sure hasn’t improved their cerebral function.
That is for sure… it is no more powerful than ones own finger nails…
Outrageous and barbaric!!! Your takes are amazing!!!
Thank you Paula…
I really think it would be feasible to flood the market with indistinguisable fakes, preferably impregnated with something really nastily toxic enough to affect everyone who handles them. Although it would be a good idea to shoot poachers on sight, they are not really the most culpable ones.
I agree Col… I believe we have enough stock in storage to flood the market and make the price so low it would stop the poachers getting the big bucks… but it is not allowed I’m told…
It saddens me so very much when I see what people do to God’s beautiful creation. Truly, there is no thought to the Creator behind any of their choices. Selfish ambition drives them. It is so sad.
Proud of you that you are getting the message out there, Bulldog. Your photos are absolutely beautiful, and your message important.
Thanks Skye… the word needs to be spread…
The extent of poaching makes me angry. I don’t understand shooting and killing God’s beautiful creatures. I just don’t understand.
I agree with you Maralee… I can understand those that pay big money to come to Africa to shoot antelope etc… it is a major income for many of the poorer countries and it is a renewable source… but to hunt the rhino and merely cut off the horn, sometimes before the poor animal is even dead… and then for some to use the horn for an ailment, that the horn cannot fix better than chewing your own finger nails I just don’t understand…
I don’t understand why people are determined to hunt to the point of extinction… You have put your self out of business…
Exactly Jasmine… maybe I should get my DiL to write a song about it and you could record it…
LOL maybe…
It’s very sad, imagine for one moment we had to say… pull all our teeth to avoid being killed for them… very sad
exactly Diana… I wish we could slow it down if not stop it completely…
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you..
It is so sad that there are twits out there still poaching rhinos and for such myths!
I do agree and worry about the massacre that is taking place which we seem not to be able to stem…
They say that the harder the times the more barbaric things and people become sometimes.
Carry on with your worthy message!!!!
Thanks Frank.. to get the message out there…
It’s a strange world at times… Sadly, if there’s a buck to be made, there will always be takers, whether out of desperation or greed.
You are so right but at a price of R600 000 per kg, it is going to be a hard thing to stop…
Deturpare il povero rinoceronte per salvargli la vita, ma che fare altrimenti??
Ovvio che sono bellissimi con il loro corno, e lo dimostrano le tue bellissime foto, ma finché non si trova una soluzione sarà dura per loro, poveri animali!!!
You are so right Patrizia… we actually have no option but to remove the horn in the hope it saves the Rhinos life… such a shame though…
It is very sad, indeed. Your Rhino shots are magnificent.
Thank you… hope they are around for years to come… obviously without being de-horned…
Yes, I hope so too.