Prince Harry calls wildlife slaughter "a pointless waste of beauty"

Prince Harry has released this personal photo taken during his summer visit to southern Africa. Here Prince Harry shares his story behind the photograph… "After a very long day in Kruger National Park, with five rhinos sent to new homes and three elephants freed from their collars – like this sedated female – I decided to take a moment. I know how lucky I am to have these experiences, but hearing stories from people on the ground about how bad the situation really is, upset and frustrated me. How can it be that 30,000 elephants were slaughtered last year alone? None of them had names, so do we not care? And for what? Their tusks? Seeing huge carcasses of rhinos and elephants scattered across Africa, with their horns and tusks missing is a pointless waste of beauty." Photograph © Prince Harry

A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:28am PST

Prince Harry has released this personal photo taken during his summer visit to southern Africa. Here Prince Harry shares his story behind the photograph… "This was the second time Zawadi, a female black rhino, met someone from my family. My brother William fed her three years ago in Kent just before she left under a translocation project to Tanzania where she now lives in a sanctuary. Thanks to the passion and stubbornness of Tony Fitzjohn OBE and his amazing rangers, she and many others are living it up in the bush and their numbers are growing. She goes nuts for carrots and I loved being able to send William this photo. Hats off to Tusk Trust." http://www.tusk.org/mkomazi-national-park Photograph ©Prince Harry

A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:32am PST

We hope you've enjoyed seeing Prince Harry's photos on instagram today, and thank you for taking the time to read his stories on this important issue. As Prince Harry said in his speech at Kruger National Park today: "There is no pretending that any of this will be easy. It won't be. But when we win this battle and reverse the rise in poaching, the victory will belong first and foremost to those on the frontiers." And here is the proof that the battle can be won. A female rhino who had her horn hacked off by poachers in 2012. She now has a baby calf called Thembi. Photograph © Prince Harry

A photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 3:43am PST