When The Last Rhino Is Poached

Hey guys, this was my entry for the wildseas.org World Rhino Day Short Story Competition which I came 2nd in :) 

I know it's a little long but I think you'll enjoy it <3

 ‘Wake up, angel.’ My mother whispered shaking me.

Without even needing to turn on the lights I knew there were tear streaks running down her cheeks. Deep sadness made her voice quiver when she spoke again. ‘Get dressed. We’re going for a drive.’

Only one quarter awake I pulled myself out of bed, and fumbled in my closet for some clothes. It would have been easier if I had turned my light on but I had sensed that this was an urgent situation so I didn’t want to waste a second.

‘Lara!’ My dad called to me over the sound of the running car engine.

I heard how panicked he was and knew that this wasn’t a prank but a real emergency. Throwing my t-shirt over my head I grabbed my phone and sprinted out of my room and out of the house.

‘Sorry to stress you out darling but your mother got a phone call from your uncle.’ My dad whispered as he drove through the suburb heading for the highway that could take us to many places.

I knew this area so well considering I had only moved here three years ago. That was the horrible part of being the only daughter of two serious conservationists, you moved wherever, whenever to be close to your parents’ work. Sometimes I blamed my ranger uncle for getting the whole family so involved in the rhino’s plight but other times I was grateful that I could be a part of something that was really important.

‘What did uncle say? Is he okay? Is Rue okay?’ Every time I said the young white rhinoceros’s name I swelled with pride because when she was a baby I had been the one to name her. Even now when I heard of things going wrong in the rhino protection area I remembered clearly the first day I had met the poor orphan rhino. She was among the last fifty white rhinos still alive then, but so much had changed now.

‘Darling do you remember last summer when your uncle removed Rue’s horn to keep her safe.’

I nodded my head as I watched her rub sunscreen onto her face. If she was already applying it she obviously thought we’d be spending a lot of time in the sun today.

‘Do you remember that day when I told you that a poacher could still come after her even if she had the smallest fragment of horn?’

My heart felt like it had been forced onto a treadmill at full speed in the middle of the night. ‘Is she dead?’ I whispered so quietly that I didn’t even know if my mother would hear me.

I waited for a minute in silence when my dad stopped the car and stared at my mom wondering just what they should tell me and who was going to have to reveal it to me.

‘Lara, we know how much Rue means to you and to all of us but there’s not much we can do now.’

‘Is she dead?’ I screamed the question at my parents wanting to know the answer no matter how painful it was going to be. I had to know. I had to be able to prepare myself for what I would be seeing when we arrived in the top security area.

To my surprise my dad sighed and reaching for my hand he gave me a weak smile which I could just make out in the darkness. ‘She’s not dead but …’

I finished off his sentence for him already guessing the meaning. ‘She was poached and is now fighting for her life because of it.’

Slowly I understood why we were rushing at a time like this. If Rue had died we would have had time preparing ourselves for what we would see but now since she was alive and suffering, every second counted.
My dad gave my hand a quick squeeze before speeding back onto the highway. I understood now why they looked both sad and anxious, we were on our way to say goodbye to the last rhino.

I sat there staring at the picture of Rue on my phone scared and confused by so many unanswered questions that demanded attention in my mind. In order to try and dismiss them I started reciting the facts that I knew:

Rue was a white rhino. She was three and a half years old. She had been orphaned when her mother was killed by poachers. When the last black rhino died and only thirty white rhinos remained on earth the conservationists started to go to extreme measures to protect them. During this process Rue was placed in a cornered off area of the Kruger National Park and was given special guards and rangers (one of which was my uncle). One week ago we found out that she was the last rhino left alive which meant her security protocol was increased, yet somehow last night she was poached.

But even after sieving through the important information that I knew I still did not understand how a poacher could get through all of Rue’s protection and get to her. More importantly, why were their so few cars speeding on the highway? Surely more of the media should be on their way to document this sad occasion. Surely there should have been a whole police squadron speeding towards the park ready to track down the poachers.

‘We’re here.’ My dad mumbled as he pulled into the entrance of her area.

‘This is not the right time for visitors, sir.’ The one guard told us just as we heard a male’s voice boom from inside the guard’s room.

Without even asking my parents for permission I got out of the car and pushed past all of the shocked guards until I could see my uncle towering over everyone and ordering the men to remain calm.

‘Uncle Jeremy.’ I called poking him the way I used to do when I was five. ‘I NEED to see her!’

The minute my uncle saw me he realized my eyes were begging him while my voice was stiff and clear, he excused himself from the meeting.

Returning to my parents I knew they were angry that I had run off but they didn’t have time to show it because they noticed my uncle standing next to me with blood on his khaki shirt. ‘Hi J, you need to tell us what happened, what's the plan now?'

My mother said locking gazes with her brother. She had a way with getting what she wanted and right now all three of us needed to know.

‘I can’t tell you yet, but I need you to grab your veterinary tools so we can tend to Rue first, I’m afraid she’s not going to make it.’   

With the car’s lights shining on him I could see just how stressed and tired he looked. The bags underneath his eyes showed the seriousness of the situation. ‘What happened to your team of vets?’ I asked as we started walking through the bush to where her body lay.

‘They fled once they had the horn. Only then did we realize they had been selling all her other pieces of horn that we had gained through the dehorning process.'

I wished he would say that at least they hadn’t killed her, but I realized that with all her suffering it would have been better for Rue if they had.

The minute I saw her injured body I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe before kneeling down and gently stroking her skin the way I had always done when I visited her. ‘Everything’s going to be okay Rue.’ I felt bad for lying to a dying animal but I knew she couldn’t understand me, it felt like the right thing to say, so I sent her love through my words and touch.

Everyone was silent whilst my mom worked along with some other local vets to stabilise Rue’s condition, but before they could deliver the verdict I knew I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t want to stand by and watch her die.

Getting up I ran deeper into the dark bush wanting to wake up from this nightmare but knowing it was impossible. I was here now and this was real. Rue was dying and I had to do something about it. I wasn’t a trained vet or a ranger or even a proper conservationist. I was just a teenage girl who had worked so hard to save a vulnerable species.

I racked my brain for something I could do before I realized I had the answer the whole time. If the media wasn’t here to show the world just how horrid poaching could be I was going to do it myself. I was going to turn Rue into an icon that would remind the world forever what happened if human beings did not control their greed.

Grabbing my cellphone out of my pocket I turned it onto video camera mode and whispered my first video blog entry: 'Around the world some of you are sleeping and some of you are awake, but whatever time-zone you’re in there is some shocking news that you’re all about to hear. The incident will be a blow to my country South Africa, and to the rest of the world. For those of you who did not support the rhino cause you will feel guilty, whilst those who did are going to wish they had done more! In the last twenty-four hours the worst alternative possible has occurred. Something no-one ever thought they would face, an entire species is one whole step closer to becoming extinct.’

Regaining my courage I walked back to where Rue lay and pointed the camera at her and the people working so hard to help her. ‘But I’m not going to spend the next few days mourning her death because it hasn’t happened yet. I am going to spend the next few days making sure that every single person on this planet knows what’s going on. I’m going to do my best making sure the rest of the world wakes up from being ignorant and takes a stand. We cannot forget the mistakes of the past but we need to spend every ounce of our energy making sure that this Rhino stays alive for the next generation to see.’

As I turned the camera off I heard the sound of three helicopters coming closer to where we were. Listening even more carefully I heard police sirens and the sounds of cameramen snapping the pictures that would be all over the news in only a few hours.

In spite of the situation I found myself praying silently as I posted my video blog on the internet, crossing my fingers and hoping that it would help us get the right amount of support and prayers to make sure that Rue survived tonight. For even though the last rhino was poached; we cannot stop fighting against extinction because it is a shadow that will never stop haunting the animals left on earth.