On Sunday, 14th October I did an article about
Claire Freedman’s fun book for tiny tots, ‘Monstersaurus’.* Max made a comment
and drew my attention to another children’s book, ‘Rhino? What Rhino?' He liked
the lyrical quality and said his 3 year old enjoyed having it read to her over
and over. I did a bit of Googling and decided to get hold of the book for my
youngest grandchildren. They will be 6 in February of next year. They loved the story, and like Max’s daughter,
they wanted it read it over and over again. I loved reading it too!
The title, ‘Rhino? What Rhino?’ is poignant and topical when seen in the
context of rhino poaching in South Africa. Today the BBC TV News tells of the
slaughter of hundreds of Rhinoceroses for their horns which are valued as
traditional medicine in China and Vietnam. The black market price for rhino horn is said
to be in the region of £40,000 (65,000 US dollars) per kilo! That’s more than
the price of gold. There is a mistaken belief that rhino horn has healing
qualities, but it is almost identical in nature to our fingernails, and there
is no verifiable medical research substantiating the claims of those who dupe
people into buying powdered rhino horn.
If poaching continues, rhinos will become extinct, or only survive
in highly protected compounds for breading purposes and for preserving the species.
Some progress is being made on cracking down on poachers. There have been
several arrests and imprisonment of perpetrators. GPS technology is being used
to monitor rhinos. Tiny GPS chips have been inserted into the dead parts of
their horns, so that the animals can be tracked. If unusual behaviour occurs,
the chips wirelessly activate alarms at the game warden’s base station.
Genesis 1:26, 27 ‘Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the
sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and
over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”’
‘Dominion’ in this
context means to rule over, to be responsible for. Unlike the animals, Man’s
role was to husband the creatures God created, not make them extinct!
Links
*‘Monstersaurus’
‘Rhino? What Rhino?’ at Amazon
Rhino
horn GPS used to deter poachers
South Africa
rhino poaching: More killed than ever
Army steps in to end rhino massacre
South Africa: Go After Rhino Poaching Kingpins, North
West Premier Urges Hawks
South Africa
gives rhino poacher 40-year jail term
The Rhino Poaching Crisis Is So Bad, the South African Army
Has Stepped In
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