Meha

tekijä Emmy Gostelie · Utrecht, NL

In April 2016, rangers from Kruger Park found a young rhinoceros next to her dead mother. She had been alone for 2 days and without milk. They named her Meha. She was taken in by Care for Wild in South Africa, where the animal nearly died a few months later due to cardiac arrest during the (preventive) removal of her horn. Rhinoceroses have existed since prehistoric times. Forty years ago, there were still 100,000. From 2007 to 2017, 8,273 rhinoceroses were poached in South Africa, which is about three per day. Worldwide, there are now fewer than 13,000 rhinoceroses left. A kilogram of rhinoceros horn costs 30,000 euros and is more expensive than gold. There are people in China and Vietnam who believe that horn (or keratin/nail) possesses magical and healing powers. However, this has never been scientifically proven.