Prince Harry today declared his determination to lead the fight to save the African Rhino.
Harry, who announced he is now Patron of Rhino Conservation Botswana, said in a video shot while in Botswana: “The rhino is one of Africa’s most iconic species.
"This is a black rhino, an animal that deserves the utmost respect, so to be able to be sitting next to her is incredibly special.
"The black rhino has been reintroduced into Botswana and its numbers are increasing here, while numbers are decreasing elsewhere.
"If we can’t save these animals, what can we save?”
On becoming Royal Patron of RCB, Harry added: “I’ve been lucky enough to visit Botswana for more than 20 years and am incredibly fortunate to be able to call it my second home.
"Being Patron of RCB is an opportunity to give something back to a country that has given so much to me.”
“It’s about time we start celebrating and supporting the countries that are taking the lead in conservation.”
Founded in 2014, RCB is an international organisation that monitors and protects black and white rhinos it helps rescue from poaching hotspots across southern Africa and move to Botswana.
Here, thanks to the government's robust anti-poaching laws and the support of the military, the rhinos can thrive – and ultimately become one of the last great hopes for the survival of their kind.
Prince Harry visited Botswana last September, and joined an RCB operation to fit electronic tracking devices to critically endangered black rhinos, which had been moved to the Okavango Delta.
Working as part of a small team, Harry helped with tasks including clearing thorn bushes from around sedated rhinos so that tracking devices could be fitted, monitoring the animals’ breathing and heart rate, administering oxygen, covering the rhinos’ eyes to protect them, and helping to keep the animals cool with water.
