Gertjie is a nearly four-month-old rhino. He is currently at a sanctuary, where he is making headlines as videos of him snuggling with his keepers, going for walks, and being bottle fed go viral. He was found crying inconsolably at his dead mother's side early in May after poachers killed her and took her horn. It saddens me that people would kill these endangered beasts for the prize of their horns, to satisfy greed, and to do so to a nursing female, leaving the young rhino to die. I am glad there are folks at the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Centre who were willing to take the Gertjie in and help save his life.
Orphaned baby rhino Gertjie refuses to sleep alone after witnessing his mother's death at the hands of poachers
Right after I posted this, which I had stumbled upon, I found something else in my Facebook newsfeed that saddened me (I follow the National Geographic). Oh, I don't understand how anyone can do this. What a grand fellow, an elephant about my age, somewhere between 45-50, one of the largest in the world and beloved by both tourists and those who strive to save these wonderful animals alike.
Beloved African Elephant Killed for Ivory--'Monumental' Loss
World Famous Elephant 'Satao' Killed By Poachers In Kenya
“Today it is with enormous regret that we confirm there is no doubt that Satao is dead, killed by an ivory poacher’s poisoned arrow to feed the seemingly insatiable demand for ivory in far off countries. A great life lost so that someone far away can have a trinket on their mantelpiece,” the statement said.
The poachers cut off the elephant’s face and stole the tusks, but conservationists who have studied Satao for several years identified his body from the ears and other marks on this body earlier in June and immediately reported to authorities.
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