WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS – FIGHT BACK!
A black rhino explodes into a poacher’s camp. The tables are suddenly turned. In the snorting chaos of dust and breaking branches, shouts and flying debris, poachers scramble to avoid the lethal flailing of the very horn they have come to harvest.
I wanted this piece to express the desperation of being hunted so relentlessly that some animals, elephants in particular, seemed to have learned to participate in the battle for their own survival.
Grinding a poacher's AK 47 under foot, this powerful image captures the monumental triumph of a lone bull rhino - if only for now.
I wanted to do something
- to be involved somehow. I realize that no one person can stop the
illegal slaughter of thousands of rhino and elephant. Many individuals
standing together however, could mean the difference between the survival or extinction of a species.
Matusadona National Park on the shores of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe is a rugged and beautiful place.
Barely functioning as a national park, we found on a single day, the carcasses of 4 elephants.
Camera-shy Lynne Taylor.This woman is passionate, tenacious and busy! We drove the road from Harare to camp one time. The paved part is dangerous. The dirt part – well, lets just say if you don't have a 4x4 you're not going to make it. Lynne drives this 1200 km round trip every few weeks. Top left: Lynne talking shop with an off-duty ranger. Top right: Talking birds with my nephew and traveling companion Chris.
Relaying on grants, sponsors, donations and often her own funds, Lynne sees to the rebuilding and maintenance of roads and signage, the refurbishment of park buildings and offices, installation of solar power units, water pumps complete with tanks and plumbing; office equipment, radio communications, computers and more. On top of all this she is personally and deeply involved in the upliftment of park rangers and their families. While we were there, her team had just finished a multi-room dwelling for the new school principle and several teachers. She also showed us the community hall she had built and the school where around 130 of the park ranger’s kids attend. And this is only one of several of the parks in the Zambezi Valley Lynne works with.
From my roof-top tent I photographed these two rangers walking through camp.
Poaching in the bush and on the lake is so rife that a full-time anti-poaching unit has been established and operates under the robust leadership of a hard-core young Zimbabwean named James.
My admiration for what Lynne is doing is off the charts. With subtlety and persistence she initiates innovative operational strategies and encourages changes in thinking and doing. The benefit to National Parks, the rangers, their families and the animals for which the parks exist cannot be underestimated. What a privilege to have met such an amazing person; to experience for a moment the fragility of the world she and others like her are fighting to stabilize.
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS - FIGHT BACK! Is a personal response to the poaching epidemic currently sweeping Southern Africa.
Bronze, 75 limited edition castings. 7" long x 51/2" high x 4" wide - USD $1200 excluding tax, shipping and duties.
Over a year of communication led to an epic journey to deliver bronze # 3/75 to Lynne personally - right in the park where just a handful of black rhino survive.
I am donating 60% of the profit from the sale of this limited edition sculpture to the anti-poaching unit of the Tashinga Initiative. If like me, you feel that you want to do something, purchasing one of these limited edition bronzes will be a tangible way you can make a difference. Please contact me hermannabrandt@gmail.com
