Well known adventurer Kingsley Holgate and his team recently returned from their recent Project Rhino KZN supported ‘Izintaba Zobombo’ expedition, another authentic Kingsley Holgate Foundation initiative. This 90 day, 3 country journey to track, research and document the Lubombo Mountain Range. They travelled through a rectangle encompassing the Lubombo Range of Mountains, including the Kruger National Park and its nearby private reserves, across its fence line to the Rhino War Zone along the border with Mozambique in the East to include Parc Nacional do Limpopo and the private reserves down to Komati Poort, then South through the nature reserves of Swaziland and into Northern KZN. An expedition that encompassed the largest population of Rhino’s in the world.
The big sponsored Land Rover Defender nicknamed “Mashozi” completed the “Izintaba Zobombo” and carries hundreds of messages and signatures of solidarity in support of rhino protection. This vehicle has been donated to Project Rhino KZN as a Rhino Educational vehicle and then will be used as an anti-poaching unit thereafter. Dian, aged 7, wrote on the Landy ‘I hope that when I’m big I’ll be able to see a live rhino in the wild’…
“It was this Land Rover”, explained Kingsley “that with a team of volunteers gathered tens of thousands of Rhino Art messages from School children, living close to areas of Rhino protection. The children were given art materials and a blank A3 paper, with an outline of a Rhino. Their challenge was to colour in the Rhino, write a message about whatever they think about the Rhino crisis and fill in the page with Rhino Art. It’s a great research project with messages that read.”
‘Let’s move our rhinos to a safe place outside the Kruger National park’, writes a concerned young artist from the Makuleke community.
Another short message simply reads: ‘Tell the Chinese to stop.’
And so it goes on, tens of thousands of pieces of Rhino Art, the biggest voice ever gathered from the children of Africa. Little Nomvelo from grade 5A writes: ‘In five to ten years’ time there will be NO RHINO – ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. This is a message to young and old – and then in small print in a shape of a heart she adds: ‘People please stop chopping down Rhino Horn – PLEASE.’
Nicholas Mondlane from a school near Punda Maria close to the Kruger National Park writes: ‘Let the Rhino – God’s animal – survive: Let us be together. President Nelson Mandela said: Freedom for All – Not this killing of the animals.’ His art shows a poacher, a helicopter and the ‘chopping’ of a horn.
15 Year old Affection Sibiyi writes: ‘Poaching Rhino horn is wrong – it kills or makes the rhino to suffer – if we poach horn we hurt it – Stop it!’
Another art message reads: ‘Please stop killing Rhinos – we want our children and grandchildren to see live Rhinos, with their own eyesight. Not just in photos. We beg: Rhino poaching must stop NOW.’
The kids draw pictures of men in camouflage with guns and write words like ‘Fake S.A.D.F.’
A little Swazi girl’s message reads: ‘Our Rhinos are good for the economy; they bring tourists and money to Swaziland. Hands off our Rhinos. If you hear of poaching tell the teachers and the police.’
A little Shangaan child, living in a Mozambique village close to the Kruger National Park border asks: ‘God stop the killing of Rhino. It’s a bad thing,’ she says, ‘already I have lost two brothers.’ She is referring to them having been shot by anti-poaching unites in Kruger – and her mother fetching them back in body bags from the Giriyondo border. It’s also a human tragedy!
A beautiful piece of Rhino Art has these words: ‘1,2,3,4,5 – We are the Big 5 – don’t kill the Rhinos and let us become the Big 4 – STOP KILLING.’ More art shows poachers in balaclavas, blood, axes, even chain saws.
‘Why kill such a big animal for such a small part – Stop, Stop the killing of our Rhino’,’ is yet another ‘Art Voice’.
Little Zinhle Mathembu writes: ‘People who kill the Rhino, is like to kill the life of all South Africans.’ Her art shows a chopped horn on a Rhino and a big splash of bright red blood on the veld.
Machawe Dlamini from Swaziland adds: ‘Say NO to poaching. Rhinos are highly endangered. Some believe that Rhino Horn cures illnesses, some use it as a status symbol – a horn can be worth ½ a million US dollars. STOP! Our Rhinos are the PRIDE OF SWAZILAND and the government can and should enforce conservation laws.’
Sphelele Myeni writes: ‘Don’t kill the Rhino – The country’s assets are fading away right in front of our eyes… together with the country’s dignity.’
‘We have the power to make a difference,’ says Temanti Fulini.
Sibusiso Malambe from Swaziland suggests: ‘Game rangers should visit schools and teach pupils how best to report someone who kills Rhinos.’
This one could become a bumper sticker: ‘Hunt the Poachers – And Save the Rhinos.’
Yet another young artist shows a fallen Rhino, blood and a chopped horn. ‘Tell the people,’ he writes, ‘Rhino horn does NOT cure cancer. Our Rhinos should NOT be used for dagger handles in Yemen or for Chinese traditional medicine – HANDS OFF!’
Jessica Jiyane, age 11, writes: ‘Rhinos are vulnerable species that needs every South African citizen to value and respect them… If government is not assisting enough to take care of the Rhinos, our future generation will be deprived. I call upon all South Africans to stand against Rhino poaching.’ She gives the toll free police number 0860 12 13 14 and draws a poacher shooting a Rhino and a little girl with a sad face, trying to protect its horn.
The ‘Izintaba Zobombo’ Expedition was able to undertake the most comprehensive children’s education survey ever undertaken linked to Rhino Conservation Art and Soccer. Never before have so many thousands of school children been given the opportunity to have a voice as to how they feel about the ‘Rhino situation’. It’s a known fact that to win the Rhino War we will have to involve communities.
‘Future generations need to understand the need to protect the last of our Rhinos – we need to get into more hearts and minds,’ says Kingsley Holgate, who has led Land Rover expeditions to every country on the African continent.
‘To win this “Rhino War” we also need to get into the hearts and minds of the children, especially those living in communities close to wildlife sanctuaries,’ adds Kingsley Holgate, ‘and then the challenge will be to take these “Rhino Art ” voices from the children of Africa to the rest of the world, especially the people of South East Asia, who are subverting our people with more money than they’ve ever dreamed of, to slaughter a species that’s been with us for more than 50 million years, all in the useless belief that their horns are valuable traditional medicine. As a well-informed little artist writes: Let’s all the children rather collect all our toe and finger nail clippings and send those to China!’
Rhino Art gathered by volunteers from all over Southern Africa, will be handed over to Kingsley Holgate Foundation before world Rhino Day on the 22nd September. This messaged Rhino Art from Mozambique, Swaziland and from across South Africa will be showcased on World Rhino Day ,and be used as a further “Call to Action” in support of Rhino protection.
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