FRAGILE      RHINO

A little one’s rebirth

 

An innocent and fragile life was taken, along with so many others, for the simple yet incredibly complex reason of misplaced value driven by greed, a lack of understanding and a general disconnectedness to wildlife and our natural world. 

 

This unborn baby rhino, along with its mother and a sub-adult male, were killed by poachers in March 2015 on a remote game reserve in the Eastern Cape. Dr. William Fowlds, the attending vet who was so moved by the situation, decided to deliver the almost-term baby as part of the routine autopsy. We were faced with the shocking image of this unjust, premature death of a baby lying next to his mother. The experience so impacted us that we thought the greater community needed to also see, touch and feel what we had felt. Poaching of these magnificent animals should not just be a statistic.

 

We embarked on the process of transforming this little one from flesh to bronze while preserving the most minute details. Otto Du Plessis, along with his team at the Bronze Age Foundry, took on this challenge and worked to the highest standard to create this symbolic artwork. 

 

This little one symbolises both the fragility of his species in His previous form of flesh and also the human response by transforming Him to bronze, and in so doing becoming an indestructible symbol that will continue to speak to all future generations. 

 

Our rhino are priceless in value, yet so vulnerable to the threat of extinction. This bronze baby rhino has the unique ability of being a point of contact for many to see and touch, and in so doing allowing us all to be connected and more motivated in saving the living few. 

 

If we want our future generations to experience Rhinos in the wild and all that they bring the human heart, mind and spirit, we need to understand their true value and work together in protecting our Rhinos and this incredible natural world in which we all live.

 

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

― Mahatma Gandhi