On 18 May, Bianca Bothma and I were tasked with the exciting job of shooting a short rhino conservation video for I love rhinos – an awareness campaign that aims to build support for the fight against poaching the five species of rhino.
We headed to the Johannesburg Zoo to film the star of our little movie – Phila the black rhino.
After being shot nine times in the wild by poachers, and surviving, Phila has somewhat become the face of the anti-poaching struggle. She had to be moved to the zoo for protection, where she has remained since October 2010.
We interviewed Alice Masombuka, animal keeper and Phila’s guardian at the zoo, who said that Phila’s story has created a positive awareness around rhino poaching. “If people see something suspicious they want to report it because of the Phila story,” said Alice. “Now everybody knows they have to do something.”
The six-year-old rhino is not at all camera shy, which was a pleasure as we were able to get fantastic footage for the conservation video, which will be released soon.
To help fight rhino poaching, follow I love rhinos on Facebook.
