Stop!

Day 11,
This was not the 1st Rhino that we saw but was definately the closest, this is a full frame shot with the zoom set at around 65mm, we could hear it breathe.
It is shocking the numbers of these magnificent animals are being poached for their horn.
in the 9 days we spent there, there were at least 7 rhino killed within the park, it has come to the point that on the Game Maps in each camp in the park where visitors can record their sightings of various animals by placing coloured markers on a map, the white circles for Rhino are no longer used... why make it any esier for the poachers.
On the 16th of May it was reported that The Kruger National Park has lost 13 rhino in the previous week, elsewhere in the same report in mentions 24 were killed the week before that. thus increasing the number of rhino poached in the park since 1 January to 229.
Overall The total number of rhino killed in South Africa for their horns has increased to 313 These figures come from the South Africa Government News Agency own website.
I assume that this does not include the number of Rhino "Legally" hunted, it beggers belief but private game reserves can offer packages where so called "hunters" can apply for a permit to shoot a Rhino and export the horns as long as it is as a trophy...
How shooting one of these could be described as sport is beyond me. it must be about as an exciting a stalk as creeping up on a dairy cow in a field and shooting it!, a couple of horns in a bag.. illegal. 2 horns mounted on a bit of polished wood legal, and in my opinion obscene.
The SA government is also looking into the possibility of allowing trade in Rhino Horn so stockpiles of horn stored can be dumped on the market in an effort to drive down the prices. Though, how they expect this to work they have not fully explained.
Soon the only place you will be able to see a Rhino will be in a Zoo or in a photograph!