2/1/14

Exotic... Exot... Ex... Ex... Extinct!!!




Exotictinct
Requiem to the Western Black Rhino
(Diceros bicornis longipes, Status: Extinct)



A Crash of Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) On The Move. Now Still, Extinct, Erased.
Pen and ink on 19"x24"  Bristol Board. 
The Western Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis longipes) was recently officially declared extinct. Read here.


All things to nothing descend,
Grow old and die and meet their end...
Nor long shall any name resound
Beyond the grave, unless 't be found
In some clerk's book, it is the pen
Gives immortality to men rhino
(Master Wace (1100 - 1175) - from his Chronicles of the Norman Dukes. Found on the Chart of Harold F Umstott (1907-1922 ) ...and modified by Ces Adorio :)


It was on the same month last year when I posted the above poem. Then I was lamenting the decline of the Northern White rhinoceros and all other extant rhinoceros species due to illegal poaching. Their horns are ignorantly believed by the Chinese and Vietnamese, to have medicinal powers, thus fetching as much as $35,000.00 per horn in China and Vietnam. Since then the Western Black rhinoceros has been declared extinct. The rhinoceros' horns are exactly the same materials as human nails, keratin and have no medicinal value. If they do those who chew their fingernails would have been cured of whatever ails them!

What a shame. 

This is a crash of black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) which I started drawing last year on a 19"x24" Bristol Board. I completed it a while ago but never shared it because I have no means of scanning the large finished drawing, so I just took a photo.


I still hope that future generations will be able to see live specimen of the extant rhinoceros, instead of just reading about them in books (or the Internet).

This 19"x24" pen and ink illustration is a part of a series of 4 large drawings I intended to give to my son and daughter. I have only drawn 3, so far. Slacker... :)






2 comments:

steveroni said...

All things to nothing descend...well, does that not say it all. We not only kill exotic animals--we kill exoyic PEOPLE.
Think of "extermination of Jews. And hundreds of thousands unmercifully slaughtered in Syria, and surrounding countries..
And Africa, Russia, United States of Appeasement (We kill +/- 45,000-50,000 people a year just with vehicles!)

Wonderful that you are reviving interest in the Rhino. Drawings are AWESOME.
If there are TWO Rhinos left, with horns intact, they could be the "Adam and Eve" of Rhino-Land.

Funny thing--NOT so funny...killing of humans OR animals is often done out of FEAR or GREED.
And greed comes itself from fear of something; not having enough, of running out of something.
(Horns for "medicinal" purposes--grin!)
And fear is derived from PRIDE, lack of trust in a Higher Power, Who will make "right" of anything
WE could ever do to harm God's purpose...whatEVER that purpose might be.

Ces, I think I've rambled here if you ever read this far...Blessings on YOUR work, and Gratitude for YOUR talent(s)
and thank YOU for sharing them.
PEACE and LIGHT
Steve

Bella Sinclair said...

What an outrage. We can work to send people to Mars, but we can't even save the creatures of our own planet. Someone should start a rumor that ingesting keratin causes cancer.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. A sublime and fitting tribute to the black rhino. Tsup!