Cruel to be kind to rhinos

As satisfying as it is seeing a rhino wander off, horn removal is unpleasant to watch.

- Charl Bosch

You'd have to have a heart of stone not to be emotionally moved watching a rhino being dehorned.

When I got up close and personal with one of these sedated animals undergoing the process, I felt as if I wanted to reach out and assure it with a comforting hug.

Feeling its almost armour-plated skin reminded me of a tough World War II Sherman tank.

Like the Sherman, the rhino was armed with a formidable horn... but seeing that cut off was akin to watching a Sherman have its powerful 75mm main gun removed... leaving it almost defenceless.

As I watched the dehorning process in the dusty bushveld of the Pilanesberg national park, I was filled with anger, heartache and a desire to stop the process.

Unsurprisingly, tears were shed as the distinct smell of ivory after each dehorning became second nature and literally harder to get out of one's nose.

As horrible as the process is and beyond the proverbial bitter pill to swallow, it simply needs to be done to conserve the rhino population, while also giving the horn to those driven by money.

"We would rather see a healthy, dehorned rhino than a dead one," administering vet Gerhard Scheepers said, admitting that some 160 rhinos had been killed since the first poaching case in the Pilanesberg was reported 14 years ago.

The sight of seeing a dehorning, as much as it disgusts and angers, remains a sad and vital reality to prevent ultimate extinction.