I remember once while living in Kenya, on a cool, dreary afternoon, we drove up to a pair of rare animals in the Land Rover. We were instructed to quietly get out and approach the animals. Quietly, methodically grazing were two white rhinos. Beside them were two guards armed with assault rifles. They were with them 24/7. In my youth I remembered being let down that these behemoths were not in fact white, but gray like the rhinos. I loved how calm they were, how serene, how they grazed without putting their heads up. One of the guides called them lawnmowers. The park was closed and the sun was setting. The rhinos and their escort slinked away.
I really hope that this moment will not go down in my memory as the moment I witnessed an extinct species. I hope that human beings will come up with a solution for these majestic animals – that we can figure out how to get them to reproduce, that it will not become necessary that they have to be guarded by guards with automatic weapons 24/7. I hope we will wise up and make this world a better place for all animals on this planet.
adventurer poet 