The Gifted Four were strolling in the ForestEnchanté. It was their duty to inspect the forest every week. Felix was happy to see Rino healthy again. Felix had sneaked Rino, the rhinoceros, into the MysticLand from the human world. Rino was sick and Felix wanted to heal him.
“Rino, I’ve got some incredible news for you!” Felix could speak to the animals. Rino was excited. Verum, Orak and Scorch leaned in to know the news.
“A South African non-profit organisation (NGO), African Parks, bought the world’s largest privately-owned rhino herd and plans to release the 2,000 rhinos in southern Africa.
“What do you mean by a privately owned herd,” asked Scorch.
“Good question! These rhinos were part of a project called Platinum Rhino. The idea of this project was to breed them in captivity and flood the East Asian rhino horn trade with sustainably harvested horns. This would lower the price of rhino horns and stop poaching of this magnificent creature.”
“But…?” Orak prompted as Felix seemed unhappy.
“But, the breeder, John Hume, ran out of money because selling rhino horns has been banned since 1974. So, he put all the rhinos up for auction in April. African Parks bought the entire herd.
These rhinos make up about 15% of the remaining wild population of southern white rhinos. African Parks manages the protected areas in 12 countries, so they’re well-equipped to carry out this noble mission,” Felix informed.
Rino was happy to hear this. The Gifted Four were rushing back to their dorm before sunset and Orak shared a fun fact on the way, “Do you know that the greater one-horned rhino (Indian rhino) is nicknamed the ‘Unicorn’ for its single horn?”