Rhino Revolution held an online amateur photography competition during COVID-19 lockdown, and Jayest, from South Africa won the magnificent limited edition print of’ The Lucky Five’ painting with his image of three white rhino.
”I started with photography in late 2017, settling on genres I enjoyed the most: landscape, night sky and wildlife. Through photography, i became more aware of the interactions of nature, the effects of humans on natural ecosystems, and why conservation efforts are so important.
The picture I took was in the North West Province of South Africa. It was in December 2018, and we managed to glimpse a white rhino ambling through the bush, then another, followed by one more, until the whole family of 5 came through and calmly grazed awhile. They seemed to be a close-knit unit, as the adults had no issues with their proximity to each other. I was fortunate enough to be at a good angle to get a picture of 3 of them standing right next to each other, with all their beautiful horns on display. Sadly, for their own safety from poaching activities, the rhinos in the Pilanesberg (and other reserves) have since been dehorned.
Learning more about rhinos and their impacts on ecosystems became of interest to me after seeing some of Ami Vitale's (NatGeo) work on the Northern White Rhino population, and especially the death of the last male, Sudan, in 2018. Her famous image of one of the rangers with Sudan during his last moments - "The Last Goodbye" - is still imprinted on my mind. This was the extinction of a species happening in front of our eyes, and was a powerful moment for me.
Rhinos are essential for many other species to thrive, and we need to do all we can to preserve them, so that they can continue to play the vital roles they currently do within their ecosystems.
