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References: Many different photographs, i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/artic… particularly for the bull elephant

When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain,

And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain.

In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn,

They will stare unbelieving at the last unicorn.

That is how America's song "The Last Unicorn" goes, telling the sad fate of the world's only unicorn. Although it accompanies a fairy tale, it may soon become something of real life, too. Here, a scene unfolds in the South Luangwa Valley where the world's last Black rhino approaches a watering hole to drink. African elephants, Rhodesian giraffes, Oribis and Common elands all look on in reverence. Hopefully a scene like this, with a real life last unicorn, will never become a reality.

The sad fact is though that three of the world's five rhino species are critically endangered, and all suffer from horrible rampant poaching. They are killed for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal properties by some - even though the horns are just made of keratin, the same substance as our fingernails, and have no special properties at all. There used to be rhinos bearing fantastic horns like the one in the drawing, and a special few survive to this day. Unfortunately with all the poaching and preventative dehorning, they are becoming a rarer and rarer sight.

The Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) used to occur throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, but is now restricted to only a few specks of land, mostly in heavily guarded National Parks and private reserves. The population declined by 96% between 1970 and 1992 due to poaching, and three of its eight subspecies are already extinct. The Ugandan and Chobe black rhinos might be extinct as well, the latter possibly hanging on through the life of a single individual.

Be sure to check in with Saving The Survivors - NPC to see some of the great work that is being done to save Africa's poached rhinos, and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for an amazing organisation that protects enormous amounts of wildlife through their dedicated rangers every day.

Details can be found here: namu-the-orca.deviantart.com/a…

Description

References: Many different photographs, i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/artic… particularly for the bull elephant

When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain,

And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain.

In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn,

They will stare unbelieving at the last unicorn.

That is how America's song "The Last Unicorn" goes, telling the sad fate of the world's only unicorn. Although it accompanies a fairy tale, it may soon become something of real life, too. Here, a scene unfolds in the South Luangwa Valley where the world's last Black rhino approaches a watering hole to drink. African elephants, Rhodesian giraffes, Oribis and Common elands all look on in reverence. Hopefully a scene like this, with a real life last unicorn, will never become a reality.

The sad fact is though that three of the world's five rhino species are critically endangered, and all suffer from horrible rampant poaching. They are killed for their horns, which are believed to have medicinal properties by some - even though the horns are just made of keratin, the same substance as our fingernails, and have no special properties at all. There used to be rhinos bearing fantastic horns like the one in the drawing, and a special few survive to this day. Unfortunately with all the poaching and preventative dehorning, they are becoming a rarer and rarer sight.

The Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) used to occur throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa, but is now restricted to only a few specks of land, mostly in heavily guarded National Parks and private reserves. The population declined by 96% between 1970 and 1992 due to poaching, and three of its eight subspecies are already extinct. The Ugandan and Chobe black rhinos might be extinct as well, the latter possibly hanging on through the life of a single individual.

Be sure to check in with Saving The Survivors - NPC to see some of the great work that is being done to save Africa's poached rhinos, and The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust for an amazing organisation that protects enormous amounts of wildlife through their dedicated rangers every day.

Details can be found here: namu-the-orca.deviantart.com/a…