In South Africa, Prince Harry opposes rhino horn trade

In one picture, posted on Kensington Palace’s Instagram feed on December 2, Prince Harry is seen embracing an African elephant lying sedated out in the savannah while in an another he is so close to a rhino he appears to be looking into the majestic beast’s eye.

An emotional Prince Harry came face to face today with the slaughter of Africa’s wildlife when he encountered a mother rhino and its calf killed by poachers.

The scene was particularly poignant for the Prince after he had previously helped conservation experts de-horn rhinos in a desperate effort to save them from slaughter.

During the first eight months of this year, about 750 rhinos were slaughtered.

The carcasses were found on Monday and are thought to have been there for two to three days before they were discovered.

Harry also stepped into a conservation debate in South Africa, saying he believes legalization of the rhino horn trade will “accelerate the path to extinction” for the threatened species.

“None of them had names, so do we not care?”

“Seeing huge carcasses of rhinos and elephants scattered across Africa, with their horns and tusks missing is a pointless waste of beauty”, he captioned the photo.

Harry and Prince William are supports of wildlife conversation; William is patron of Tusk Trust, which works to protect African animals against poachers.

Maj Gen Jooste said that when Harry was out with them in the summer, he attended poaching scenes and was moved by them.

He said: “He saw crime scenes and carcasses, you could see that it deeply affected him, you could see the passion”. “I can’t say where this is for obvious reasons”. Then he was taken to the carcass of the white mother rhino, which had been severely scavenged by vultures and hyenas, where he spoke about the DNA sampling taking place.

“Already this year 1,500 rhinos have been killed in this country”.

Zawadi, a female black rhino is no stranger to the Royal Family.