Wildlife photography offers amazing experiences. It allows you to experience nature up-close. At the same time, nature photography also increases your awareness of the environment and all the animals that live in it. Plus, you’ll be able to capture moments that you’ll never be able to recreate, too.

One wildlife photographer got lucky in South Africa.

Garth De Bruno Austin went to the area to shoot a conservation film that talks about rhino poaching. In an amazing turn of events, he came face to face with one.

Unlike really dangerous and wild rhinoceros, Garth was approached by a baby rhino.

He knows how dangerous the creature could be. However, since the animal was the one that approached him first, he figured it would be alright to interact with it. After all, he was able to build a level of trust with the baby rhino after filming it for several years.

Garth shared:

“Do not try and do this with a truly wild rhino as it may end up with you being dead. FYI, I did not approach this animal, it was completely her decision to let me come into her personal space and touch her.”

Surprisingly, the rhino walked towards Garth and asked for a belly rub.

It was an opportunity he couldn’t say no to. As a wildlife photographer, he knows how rare it is for a baby rhino to ask for that kind of human contact.

“If a rhino walks straight up to you while you’re filming and wants some rubs… you better rub that rhino like your life depends on it! Lucky for me, she left my URSA Mini 4K camera alone!”- he said.

Apart from the photos Garth was able to capture, there’s also a video of their encounter.

The video wasn’t long. In fact, it’s just a 15-second video. Despite being short, it was able to show the highlight of the encounter.

In the video, you’ll see Garth with his camera in place. He was standing in front of the baby rhino with his right hand scratching its belly and chest.

The animal looked relaxed. It didn’t even look bothered by the human touching its chest. In fact, it seemed to be enjoying the attention.

The baby rhino behaved differently.

In general, rhinos are considered to be dangerous. They act on instinct alone. If they feel that they are in danger, they will attack.

And while rhinoceros won’t eat humans, they can certainly charge at them. With their size and strength, they can cause serious injury. In some cases, they may even cause death.

Despite how dangerous rhinos are, some people are still risking their lives just to meet the high demand for their horns, particularly in Asian countries.

The horns of rhinoceros are considered as a symbol of prosperity and wealth. In some cultures, like in traditional Chinese medicine, they have potent medicinal effects. These are just some of the reasons why rhinos are poached.

Poaching has detrimental effects.

One of the most negative effects of poaching is the reduction of the animal population. The rhinos are becoming critically endangered as years go by. And if the illegal activities aren’t stopped, it won’t be long before rhinos completely disappear.

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Source: YouTube, Majestic Animals