|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - South Africa |
| Subject: |
Behaviour - Towards Man |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
 |
|
Being a regular visitor to the Kruger National Park, it was with great excitement and anticipation that we set out on our first trip to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve to 'shoot' that prehistoric pachyderm, the rhino, particularly the so-called black variety. But that same afternoon might easily have been my last .. Having arrived at the rest camp, we hurriedly swallowed some lunch while our guide was being summoned. This was going to be thrilling. Imagine being able to get out of one's car and even stalking the game on foot. In due course our guide arrived and we set out. We had already reached the boundary of the park and had turned back when we spotted a black rhino settling down under a bush for some shade. We pulled up and our guide suggested we walk closer, leaving my wife and baby in the car. The rhino was lying about a hundred yards off the road and the guide approached at an angle, taking me to a tree which he suggested I climb in case of a charge. I set up my tripod and camera while he proceeded towards a tree about twenty yards off and even a little closer to the sleeping beauty. He then lit a cigarette, walked a few paces towards the rhino and started whistling. Abruptly the rhino rose. He was not going to have his siesta so rudely interrupted without retaliating. I was still thinking of focusing when he charged straight at the boy. In a flash the guide was at his tree, but his feet had not cleared the ground by more than two or three feet when the rhino, with a satisfied grunt, thrust his razor-like horn into the unfortunate victim. He must have stood next to the tree for only a few seconds but to me it seemed like many minutes, while he had the boy's leg trapped between his body and the tree, and with each movement, I could see the guide's grip gradually slipping . . . It was only a matter of seconds now before he would fall to the ground, as by now there was a free flow of blood down the tree stem . . . But, fortunately, the rhino gave a triumphant snort and, with tail curled in the air, trotted off directly away from us.
I was simply awe-struck and paralyzed while this tragedy was taking place within twenty yards of me. The rhino might just as well have come for me, in which case I would most certainly not have been the narrator of this incident, as I was taken completely by surprise. It happened so suddenly and the beast had traveled at such speed that it never even dawned on me to climb the tree. The guide could hardly walk, blood streaming down his leg. After I had assisted him back to the car, I dressed his wound and made him as comfortable as possible. We dashed back to camp where, after reporting the accident, I dressed the wound properly and gave the boy an injection for pain and shock. The horn had penetrated the thigh posteriorly, immediately below the buttock, for a distance of at least five inches, but fortunately had not broken the bone or severed any important vessels or nerves.
A few days later we returned to the scene of the accident. The distance covered by the rhino had been thirty-five yards. The guide, I believe, has recovered completely.
|
|
|
My first encounter with a black rhino
File available
details
Original text on this topic: