Rhinos and extinction

Evan said he wanted me to watch something with him on Netflix, The Hidden Lives of Pets. “There’s something I have to ask you about.” I could tell it was serious. 

It was an episode about an African game warden and a bloodhound named Otis, guarding the last two living northern Black Rhinos. 

“You used to live in Africa. Did you ever see a rhino?"

No, I didn't. 

"Why do people kill rhinos?”

I told him some people use rhino horn in medicine.

“Does it work? Does it save people’s lives?”

I said no, scientists say it’s a scam, it’s a myth.

“Where does most medicine come from, Baba?”

Plants. 

“Yes, plants!” He slapped the table with his palm. “People need medicine, but they can get it from plants. That’s what I thought. It’s horrible to kill rhinos for money. I hate that people do that. And now most of the rhinos are gone, and climate change is going to make it worse for them, isn’t it?”

I wish I could have said it’s all going to be OK. I wish I could have told him the rhinos will come back. All I could say is that he's right. It’s horrible for people to kill rhinos. And yes, climate change is making it harder for the ones that are left. We just sat with that for a while, and then we played his favorite fantasy game, Planet Nebula, where nobody kills anybody and the ground is green goo and nobody ever gets hurt.