Local film-maker and activist, Mark Wilby, who tried to end rhino poaching by sending toenail clippings to the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria, has launched a new local multimedia project to send a message to the consumers of rhino horn.
Local film-maker and activist, Mark Wilby, who tried to end rhino poaching by sending toenail clippings to the Chinese Embassy in Pretoria, has launched a new local multimedia project to send a message to the consumers of rhino horn.
Five ordinary locals from different backgrounds – dubbed the Cliptivists – are working together on a documentary to examine the complex questions behind rhino poaching.
Their journey began last weekend when they visited pregnant rhino Thandi, the famous survivor of an attack by poachers at the Kariega Game Reserve in March 2012.
Thandi’s horn was hacked off in the attack and on Saturday her re-infected wound was treated by Dr William Fowlds and other wildlife veterinarians at the reserve.
The Cliptivists were invited by Fowlds to attend the hands-on diagnostic treatment.
Prior to Thandi’s latest downturn, Dr Fowlds had said Thandi was “arguably the single most important rhino alive” as she had “carried the plight of the rhino out to the world”.
“The prospects of a successful pregnancy and birth represent the hope of survival. In a crisis which threatens us with despair, that hope, as insignificant as it may seem for some, is what we cling to for dear life," Fowlds said.
On this page are the Cliptivists' reactions to their encounter with Thandi.
Charlotte Jefferay, Buddhist and all-round determinedly concerned individual
It's very difficult to write something about today so soon. Imagine not only seeing Thandi but actually putting your hands on her, feeling her great warmth and knowing she is ALIVE. Perhaps like touching a God or the first Mother of all time. And then taking in the great hurt she has suffered. Watching Dr Fowlds looking for maggots in the open wound and carefully dressing the place where her horn once was. The biggest privilege of my life – today.
Carla Wilby, teenager, coming to terms with her place in the world
Never have I felt as overwhelmingly helpless as I did today. Being on the ground with the medical team, seeing Thandi suffer the ongoing facial irritation from her two-year-old poaching wound which still hasn’t healed. Knowing that she has undergone 14 equally traumatic operations. Knowing that not only will she suffer for the foreseeable future, but so will her unborn baby. Knowing that there is absolutely nothing I can do to protect other innocent rhino from the same fate is simply crushing. And to think she was one of the lucky ones! It’s incomprehensible. What could we possibly do?
Strato Copteros, media practitioner and blues-band drummer
As I stood behind Thandi, stroking her, petting her, whispering the same "what a brave girl" I say to Kaluba, my dog, at the vet, all I wanted was for her to somehow know that in her drugged slumber and distress, those around her loved and cared. That's all I kinda tried to send from my heart to hers – a message of "I'm here for you my little courageous girl". Brave little thing. And in my absolute desperate grief that she has had to endure so much because of cruelty, poverty and greed, all I could say is that we as human beings are truly sorry for what our kind has done. So very sorry indeed.
I made a silent promise that whatever I could do to stem this scourge and turn it, I would. And I know that every man in this country who understands the responsibility to protect that only love can birth, would back me.
Ultimately, Thandi's gracious gift to me – still giving so much to teach us all, still sacrificing so that we may find our light again as a collaborative species – is a very stark transition from knowing what to do, to now acting on it. Thandi this morning was my coming of age. Sweet thing, brave rhino-woman, she gives so much so we may learn ourselves as our true selves again.
It's 21 months since the notorious poaching incident at Kariega Game Reserve in which two rhino succumbed to their wounds, and the third, Thandi, fought through after multiple veterinary interventions.
Pumelela "Push" Nqelenga, journalist and actor
Meeting Thandi was another experience. Thandi was THE experience. It blew my mind. It made me want to have some sense of agency. I could not sleep without having a plan. I thought, can we call the embassy? What can I do with what I have?
But there was another voice in my head: “Ag, what are you going to do? You can’t change this, Push.” Then, I think, “Well I do theatre.” Why am I not doing storytelling through theatre with children?
That little thing. That I know I can do. This is affecting me at a deep level. Making me want to do rather than just listen.
Xola Mali, social activist and Rastafarian
I grew up in very traditional ways, and the slaughtering of cows, goats, chickens and other animals never really moved me emotionally because that practice has become part of who I am. But, my heart sank today when I had to watch a poached rhino being treated face to face. I saw that beast lying there looking very unnatural because its horn has been removed in the most inhumane way. Poaching is a brutal exercise! What is interesting for me though is that those are the exact emotions I feel every time I go to eThembeni, Zolani, Phaphamani, Hoogenoeg, Vergenoeg and many other marginalised communities. Think about going to a bush every time you need a toilet. In a civilised society this is humiliating and it strips one's dignity off – it is brutal in many ways. There are many other things but I'll stop there. Maybe I feel like this because I experienced it first-hand and I still see the majority of South Africans living in this way. This is the majority that can't relate with these animals because they don't own them and never interact with them. After all these people were removed from their homes (which were food producing farms) and the farms were changed to game reserves. Poverty, greed, corruption and capitalism are all responsible for all the injustices in the world. The injustice of rhino poaching is but part of a bigger problem. The problem is systematic and structural. My heart bleeds for the injustices done to the animals, environment and the people of the world. Ours should be a revolution for respect of humans, animals and plant life alike.
Follow and respond to the Cliptivists on their Facebook site at www.facebook.com/cliptivists
You can also visit http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-cliptivists to support the film
