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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Rhinos unscathed

The only way to save a rhinoceros is to save the environment in which it lives, because there's a mutual dependency between it and millions of other species of both animals and plants.
- David Attenborough

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Parker pen and black ink sketch and colourwash in my Moleskine A4 Folio Nature Journal

When taking my grand-children to airport, we are blessed to be driving through the country-side in stead of traffic, and these two Rhino were grazing right by the fence, so I stopped and did a quick sketch. They didn't seem bothered by me at all, I was just on the other side of a rather rickety looking game fence, which I'm sure they could demolish with a step or two, should they so wish! And I was thrilled to see that they still have their horns, so many are being removed to thwart poachers in a conservation effort of these magnificent animals.

Sometimes we're lucky enough to see the Lions close-by the fence, but I've never left my car to try and sketch them!

The park’s setting amongst the hills is stunning. The range of plains game is impressive and includes species like Eland and Gemsbuck that are not often seen in the Gauteng province. The park is not ‘natural’ in the sense that predators aren’t 100% free to roam and hunt. Lions, cheetahs, and wild dogs are segregated and fed; but their sizeable, savannah-like enclosures are far closer to a safari experience than visiting a zoo.

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2 comments:

  1. Third time lucky for me, Maree, as I visited and read your 2 previous posts, an autumn leaf abstract and some autumn trees if I remember well. On posting a comment each time all went wrong!

    I salute you for showing the wildlife and stating their case and depicting them with such loving strokes! Long live the rhino!

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    Replies
    1. Aaaaw, I'm sorry you've had trouble commenting! Maybe Blogger was working on itself! Thanks for your lovely comment, appreciate those nice words and I agree, LONG LIVE THE RHINO!

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