He previously fought in Afghanistan, and
now Prince Harry is lending his efforts to a new battle – against ivory
poachers in Namibia.
The prince is reportedly part of a team
tasked with flying over Northern Namibia’s national park in a helicopter.
When the team spots a rhino, they are said
to use a dart-gun to tranquilise the animal, before a chainsaw is used to saw
off a large chunk of horn – as poachers are put off by the absence of a full
‘trophy horn’.
But the horn regrows in the same way as
fingernails, and isn’t thought to have lasting impact on the animals.
‘He is tremendously caught up in the drama
of helping to protect the country’s black rhinos’, a conservationist involved
in the planning of the trip said.
‘He has come here at a time when Namibia is hugely
challenged by increased poaching, and he is doing his bit’.
And despite temperatures dropping to below
freezing at night, the Prince has been living under canvas, alongside a team of
wildlife rangers and vets – with the group rising at the crack of dawn, in
order to spot rhino herds when they first become active.
The team, led by wildlife vet Dr Peter
Morkel, also enjoy a diet of hot coffee and copious quantities of biltong when
they’re out in the field.
And before joining the mission, Harry
previously spent a week working in Tanzania, home to a game reserve that locals
have called ‘the elephant killing fields of Tanzania’, with 67 percent of the
reserve’s elephants killed by poachers in the last four years.
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