{"id":57990,"title":"Beauty in the beast - encounters with a White Rhino","description":"My love for rhinos can be traced back to an unexpected and very close encounter with a wild White Rhinoceros in the world-famous Kruger National Park, in 2010. And what I learned on that same trip tore a hole in my heart, but inspired me to want to do something.","content":"

My love for rhinos can be traced back to an unexpected and very close encounter with a wild White Rhinoceros in the world-famous Kruger National Park, in 2010.<\/strong><\/p>

I had spent some time in Africa before the encounter, however, this trip happened to be our honeymoon and as a treat we hired a bird guide, Etienne D. Marais (Etienne Birding), to show us some of the more difficult to find species. It was my wife\u2019s first trip to Africa and I wanted it to be special (my ulterior motive was trying to get her as hooked on the continent as I was).<\/p>

\"AOn one of the drives between birding sites, Etienne explained the dire situation with rhino poaching in Africa, and my interest began to develop. By the end of the 19th century, the Southern White Rhino subspecies\u2019 numbers had been reduced to just 20-50 animals in one small part of South Africa, they were on the brink of extinction. But conservation efforts have successfully increased their numbers. Then between 2007 and 2014 there was a surge in illegal poaching for Rhino Horn which has had a devastating impact on the species, not to mention the terrible way in which the individual animals suffer at the hands of the poachers.<\/p>

In addition to this, it has recently been determined that other species are being affected by poaching activity (not just rhino poaching). Vultures including the Critically Endangered White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus) are being poisoned to prevent them from drawing attention to poaching activity. It is an awful situation all round, and the numbers involved are sickening.<\/p>

We spent a few fantastic bird-filled days with Etienne before heading off on our own into the Kruger, to see what we could find for ourselves. We had a fantastic couple of weeks exploring the park - someone commented \u201cyou can\u2019t spend two weeks there\u201d, my silent reply was \u201cjust watch me!\u201d<\/p>

\"Lilac-breastedLilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus), Kruger National Park, South Africa.<\/em><\/p>

\"KoriKori Bustard (Ardeotis kori), contender for the heaviest flying creature alive today. Kruger National Park, South Africa.<\/em><\/p>

\"Neddicky,Neddicky, or Piping Cisticola (Cisticola fulvicapilla). Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, South Africa.<\/em><\/p>

\"WonderingWondering Donkey Acraea (Acraea neobule) - ok, not a bird, or a rhino, but still worth a glance. Kruger National Park, South Africa.<\/em><\/p>

For our final few days of the trip, we stayed in the luxurious Lukimbi Safari Lodge, on the southern border of the park. During one of the evening drives we stumbled upon a small herd - known as a crash - of White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum<\/em>). One of the males seemed determined to impress the females in the herd and his bravado saw him approach the safari vehicle - extremely close by. We were sitting somewhere near to the back of the vehicle. The two and a half tonne behemoth came round to our side virtually resting his horn on the vehicle\u2019s side bars right next to us! He was so close I could have reached out and placed a hand on his horn! Deep down I knew that was not wise or appropriate and the temptation subsided. I don\u2019t know if the females were impressed but the sheer bulk of the male, his quiet presence, the musty smell and the knowledge that he could wreak havoc in an instant should he choose to do so, certainly left a mark on me!<\/p>

\"AA herd, or crash, of White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). 2010.<\/em><\/p>

It was one of those encounters in life that, to use one of my father\u2019s own phrases, could be chalked up as \u2018a moment\u2019. I felt extremely privileged to have been there and to have been so close, you could sense the power of the animal, and yet neither of us came to any harm during the meeting. The close encounter left its mark on my heart. Witnessing what I had just witnessed, but also knowing what we had learned from earlier in the trip made me feel that I needed to do something. But what?<\/p>

\"CloseClose encounter with a wild White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum). 2010.<\/em><\/p>

At that time in my life, a lot was changing, I decided on a major career change which saw me moving from pure graphic design into motion graphics. I was involved in a number of projects at the time and slowly began to formulate ideas. When I had a bit of a gap in my workload, I set myself the challenge of creating an animated story to explain about the rhino poaching problem. I teamed up with the African Conservation Foundation to make sure the story I was telling was correct.<\/p>

The full video can be seen here: World Rhino Day: Facts and Fiction about the Rhino Horn Trade<\/u><\/a><\/p>

As always, the imagery created was adapted from my own photographic imagery, I do not use generative AI to create my designs, in all honesty I enjoy the process too much, so why would I? There is a range of rhino themed merchandise on the Graphic Nature<\/u><\/a> store, please feel free to have a browse. At the moment it is all about raising awareness, but I hope at some point to do more.<\/p>

Get ready for World Rhino Day 2026 on the 22nd September.<\/p>

To find out more visit the IUCN Red List of Species: White Rhinoceros<\/u><\/a>, there is wealth of information available. And while you are there, read more about the White-backed Vulture<\/u><\/a> and its unfortunate links to the poaching epidemic (amongst the multitude of other threats it faces).<\/p>

\"AA sleepy African Lion (Panthera leo) to end on. Kruger National Park, South Africa.<\/em><\/p>","urlTitle":"world-rhino-day","url":"\/blog\/world-rhino-day\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/world-rhino-day\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/graphic-nature.teemill.com\/blog\/world-rhino-day\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1787832270,"updatedAt":1787835950,"publishedAt":1787835949,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":100615,"name":"Graphic Nature"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/8satvtytvp36bouw47fv438sbvpqmt64p8gr1tsoylhjqssw.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/8satvtytvp36bouw47fv438sbvpqmt64p8gr1tsoylhjqssw.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/8satvtytvp36bouw47fv438sbvpqmt64p8gr1tsoylhjqssw.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":57645,"title":"Living on a broken planet - African Penguin.","url":"\/blog\/living-on-a-broken-planet-african-penguin\/","urlTitle":"living-on-a-broken-planet-african-penguin","division":100615,"description":"I visited South Africa\u2019s famous Boulders Beach African Penguin colony in 2005, the species was already in decline and at that time it was listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. I was shocked to recently discover that the birds had since been listed as Endangered in 2010 and as then Critically Endangered in 2024.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ta2ylubpamqdls2q5fczvwygga4bg49tbr08hx6gxhecji7c.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ta2ylubpamqdls2q5fczvwygga4bg49tbr08hx6gxhecji7c.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":57103,"title":"Crazy Keel-billed Toucan","url":"\/blog\/crazy-keel-billed-toucan\/","urlTitle":"crazy-keel-billed-toucan","division":100615,"description":"What is my design process? That depends on which design we are talking about, but my Keel-billed Toucan tee shirt design has a particularly unusual story, and it started with a trip to Costa Rica in 2024.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ucplbl7tpfiiwpl7lnbwt8wmndl98z87g0wblpmjygrefajt.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855&z=1.4&fx=0.40160032477422&fy=0.59927493701231","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ucplbl7tpfiiwpl7lnbwt8wmndl98z87g0wblpmjygrefajt.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440&z=1.4&fx=0.40160032477422&fy=0.59927493701231"},"hidden":0}],"labels":[]}