My rhinos keep going missing, but this is good news

Editor’s Note:

September 22 is World Rhino Day. This day was established in 2010 to raise public awareness of the endangered rhino species.

Also in 2010, a baby rhino named Solio was born in Kenya. Later, Solio was adopted by a friend in China, and today's story happened.

In November 2018, I adopted a rhino in Kenya . After one year, I renewed it three times. Now I have four adoption certificates, and I should continue to do so in November this year.

That's her, "my" rhino Solio, living in Nairobi National Park, Kenya | sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

At first, I accidentally saw a member of the Douban Goose Group posting a photo of an elephant cub she adopted from an elephant orphanage. I was a little moved, so I browsed the adoption website of the reserve mentioned there. I had my eyes on a big-eyed baby giraffe, but in those days, the relevant domestic departments were going to introduce management measures to allow tiger bones and rhino horns to be used as medicine. I was a little sad, and after some consideration, I adopted the 8-year-old rhino girl Solio. At that time, I didn't have a visa card, and I asked a friend to help pay the bill. Because there was a problem in our communication, the certificate I got in the end was "Congratulations to MOON.GAO (my name) for receiving a Christmas gift from MOON.GAO (still my name)"...

Not long after, regarding the State Council's "Notice on Strictly Controlling the Commercial Utilization of Rhinoceroses, Tigers and Their Products" that worried me, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration said at a press conference that after research and decision, the implementation details of the notice would be delayed, and my country would continue to implement the "three strict prohibitions" - strictly prohibiting the import and export of rhinoceroses, tigers and their products; strictly prohibiting the sale, purchase, transportation, carrying and mailing of rhinoceroses, tigers and their products; and strictly prohibiting the use of rhinoceros horns and tiger bones as medicine.

He was very happy, as if he was relieved for Solio.

It seems that everything related to rhinos is now related to me｜sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

"My Rhino"

Solio is named after Solio Ranch, the world’s first privately owned rhino sanctuary. Since the 1970s, through the introduction and breeding of rhinos, coupled with better safety supervision and habitat environment, it has gradually become the most important black rhino conservation site in Kenya.

Solio lived with his mother in Solio Ranch when he was a child until September 2010. During that time, Solio Ranch was targeted by poachers, and rhinos were killed from time to time in the reserve. One day, the rescue organization received news that a seriously injured female rhino was unable to move, and there was a 5-month-old baby rhino next to her . But when they went to the scene, they found that the baby rhino was not only 5 months old, but might be almost one year old, and was very aggressive, so it was difficult to pick it up by helicopter as planned. They had to leave two keepers to spend a night with the baby rhino in the cold wild, and only transported the baby rhino back to the orphanage by truck in the early morning of the next day-it is said that when it arrived, the baby rhino woke up all the baby elephants in the orphanage, and the keepers had to feed them earlier than usual...

When Solio first arrived at the orphanage, she was very scared of people, but the keeper found that she liked being brushed, so she used a long brush at first to avoid getting too close to Solio. Later, Solio was not so nervous and dared to follow the keeper for a walk｜sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

This orphaned rhino is Solio, but I only saw this information on the foundation's website. I have never seen Solio .

I showed off this to my friends as my rhino, and a mean friend asked me: Is this your rhino? If she dies, will the horn belong to you?

I angrily denounced the argument of being obsessed with rhino horns, and retorted: This is just like my boyfriend (although I don’t have one), nothing will belong to me after he dies, I just want to spend money on her and make her happy, that’s all.

Then I realized that this is the difference between "mine" and "what I own. " "Mine" is not equivalent to a subordinate relationship , such as my friends, my hometown, my rhino - friends, hometown, rhino are not owned by me, and what I own should be legally property rights.

All I have is the certificate. This is the certificate I received last year. I receive one every November when I confirm my continued adoption. Now I have 4 certificates. | Photo courtesy of the author

So, that was my rhino, even though I didn't own her . I knew her name was Solio, she was a girl born in 2010, she had a broken leg and was a little lame, her mother was killed by poachers, and she was a black rhino, a species that only has about 5,000 left in the wild.

This is my Rhino Solio.

No News Is Good News

After adopting the rhino, the foundation sent emails every month to introduce the situation of the entire elephant orphanage, and often mentioned that the lively and cute baby elephants had grown up, but there was no news about Solio . I waited for several months until March 2019, when I finally couldn't help but send an email in broken English to ask what was going on; the foundation replied that they had indeed not seen Solio recently, and she should be living the life of a wild rhino because no unexpected situation was found.

I couldn't help but complain to my friend who works in wildlife protection: Is this the legendary no news is good news? My friend told me that it is true. If something bad happens, it is easy to find it in the reserve because vultures are very obvious on the grassland...

After thinking about it, I immediately felt content.

There are so many photos of Solio when he was a child in the orphanage｜sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

It wasn’t until November 2019, when I was considering whether to keep Solio for another year, that I found the good news from the foundation in September in my mailbox.

It turns out that Solio, who had disappeared for a long time, went to give birth to a baby!

I happily announced the good news on WeChat Moments, saying something like "It's a boy, named Sudan, both mother and child are safe, weighing 100 kilograms rounded up." Considering that the gestation period of a rhino may be more than 16 months, then perhaps when I adopted her in 2018, Solio was already an expectant mother.

Solio and Sultan. In the photo, Sultan is only 3 days old. | sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

When I subconsciously worried about the new mother Solio, I remembered that I couldn't give her more support. I knew very well that the money I paid was not used for this rhino , and there would be no special funds in the financial account. The money was used for the entire reserve - so there was no difference between my adoption of Solio and the adoption of the big-eyed giraffe baby. This is also good. The human world that judges by appearance is already so cruel. If even the elephant orphanage distributes fruits based on appearance, it would be too cruel.

But at the same time, I feel a little lonely. Solio is not a dog that I can pet or a cat that I can rub. The bond between her and me is really just a unilateral bond established by me through a foundation . Although I originally argued that this is not "a rhino I own" but "my rhino", I still care about what I can own.

Continued disappearance

In the following two years, I continued to adopt Solio and received the third and fourth certificates. The foundation emailed me every month as usual, but there was almost no news about Solio throughout 2020 and 2021. I even changed my email address later, and only checked the old email address occasionally when I needed it, but after looking through the inbox for half a year, there was often no Solio. Of course I was disappointed, but I gradually stopped caring about it and assumed that she was doing well.

This month, my editor asked me to write an article. I wanted to look for records in my old mailbox, but I didn't expect that her news had been updated! In February of this year, Solio gave birth to her second baby! It's a girl! Her name is Savannah! She has a son and a daughter!

Solio and Savannah; as for his older brother Sudan, who is now over two years old, he is quickly becoming an independent rhino, but he has been seen hanging out with his mother and sister. | sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

I was so excited that I stuttered a little while sending a voice message on WeChat, and couldn’t help but brag to my friends, “Our Solio gave birth to a second baby!” Of course, I was inevitably asked, “Solio gave birth in February, how come you, as a mother, only found out now… Well, I’ve been disappointed so many times that I’m too lazy to check my email…”

I browsed the website for a while despite my poor English, and finally found the real reason why I hadn't heard from her for so long: I happened to catch up with her period of independent life . When she was younger, she lived in an orphanage, and we could update her eight or nine times a year; but when she started to move deeper into the reserve and had her own territory, the news became less and less, and there was a two-year gap. If she hadn't given birth to a cub this year, she probably wouldn't have been discovered. Well, it's probably easier to let go of something once you know the reason. Even if there's no news from her next year, I should be able to understand it - it means her rewilding was successful!

Rewilding is difficult. Not only do you have to change keepers frequently to prevent Solio from getting too familiar with humans, you also have to take Solio for walks in the habitat so that she and the rhinos in the wild population can get familiar with each other's smells from a distance｜sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

The only "concrete rhino"

So, what does this rhino mean to me?

I once joked that raising rhinos has many benefits. I feel like my whole style has improved. If I go to an occasion where everyone wears evening gowns and holds goblets (although that’s not the case), and I meet gentlemen and socialites who raise racehorses and purebred hounds, I can also chat and laugh about raising Solio without being nervous…

Although strictly speaking, Solio is not "raised" by me｜sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

Ignoring vanity, I was indeed touched. Without Solio knowing anything, she became my unique rhino among tens of thousands of rhinos in the world, just like what was mentioned in The Little Prince. She became the only "concrete rhino" in my heart . There will never be another rhino that I would worry about whether it has eaten well and slept well.

On the other hand, I have no doubt that I have not been domesticated by Solio to become her unique adopted human . But I am also very grateful for this. Emotionally speaking, I am really happy that there are still many people who love my Solio with me, even if they think that it is their Solio. Rationally speaking, I can't support her with $50 a year, let alone the entire reserve.

Solio at the orphanage, next door to another rhino, Maxwel; rescuing rhinos and other wild animals costs a lot of money, and my $50 is just a tiny part of it | sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

Through her, I seem to know what unconditional love is. Many parents always say that they love their children unconditionally and that as long as they are healthy and safe, it's fine. If their children really disappear for two years and bring back a baby, the parents would have gone crazy. Many people also say that fans' love for idols is unconditional and unrequited, but in fact there are a lot of clauses that disqualify idols. But for Solio, I really don't ask for anything except safety and health. I am satisfied with just posting a photo once a year... I am not saying this to criticize the majority of parents and fans, but when I know how accidental this unconditional love is, I let go of some obsessions and understand those conditional loves .

In my wishful bond with Solio, I learned a lot more about rhinos than the average human, and I look forward to meeting her in Kenya one day. She is my connection with the land 5 hours away from me, my motivation to express myself while struggling with translation software, my fantasy about the wild earth in my ordinary city life, and an opportunity for me to reflect on myself. Although I still have many confusions about adopting animals, I am very happy that I adopted Solio , and if nothing unexpected happens, I will continue to adopt her.

The lifespan of a rhino gives me enough time to think about these issues.

Solio and Sudan, for "my rhino", I can only see her from a distance through photos｜sheldrickwildlifetrust.org

I also want to know how other friends who have adopted animals think about these issues. Do they simply think that they are helping the zoo and it doesn't matter which one they choose? Or will they be like me, looking at the tenuous connection they have established with the animals with complicated emotions, and mocking themselves for being too sentimental?

Solio is a black rhino, listed as critically endangered in the IUCN Red List. Although they are called black rhinos, they are not actually that black. The name is more to distinguish them from the larger white rhinos. White rhinos include two subspecies, the southern white rhino and the northern white rhino. There are still tens of thousands of southern white rhinos, but the northern white rhino is functionally extinct - four years ago, the last male northern white rhino in the world died, leaving only two females in the world.

Author: Moon.Gao

Editor: Mai Mai

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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