The Northern White Rhinoceros

16" x 20" Acrylic Painting on Canvas

Did you know there are only TWO Northern White Rhinoceros left of their subspecies that we know of? Najin and Fatu are in the care and protection of staff at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Currently, there are efforts underway to utilize advances in biology to save the northern white rhinoceros, but recently, in fact, Najin — the younger of the two as Fatu’s daughter — has retired from offering her eggs for the rescue breeding program there. Their situation illustrates a dire need to raise awareness of the human impact on wildlife populations around the world.

Like elephants, rhinoceros are hunted and poached for sport, for trophy, for their horns and tusks. Sometimes, in effort to protect them, rescue and sanctuary staff will grind down the size of the horns on surviving rhino regularly.

Inspired by their story and wanting to help in the effort to raise awareness of their plight, I painted our square-lipped wrinkly friend on some planet safely away from Earth, where there are no humans in sight... I titled her, “Safer."