elephant

"We were currently traveling around Sri Lanka and had just left Arugam Bay heading to Yala. We came across this wild elephant on the main road. A local had given the Irish guy who was a passenger in the tuk tuk food to throw and distract the elephant so they could pass by safely but instead he decided to hand feed it to the elephant, not realizing he was supposed to throw it. The elephant turned over the tuk tuk and took out all his bags searching for food. Must be the luck of the Irish that he wasn't injured."

The description of this image posted on Instagram includes a statement from Prince Harry in an effort to bring attention to conservation of elephants and rhinos who are hunted for their horns and ivory. 

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

He also shared a video where he meets a baby orphaned rhino.  

Prince Harry has released this personal video taken during his summer visit to southern Africa. Here Prince Harry shares his story behind the video... "These baby rhinos are at an orphanage because their mothers were killed by poachers. I can't say where this is for obvious reasons. But I spent an afternoon with Petronel Nieuwoubt who runs the orphanage. The youngest rhino was called Don. He was just two months old when he was found in Kruger National Park. Petronel has students and volunteers from all over the world come to look after these orphans. They pay for this experience and that money is used for milk, food, fencing and rangers for security." For more information go to: www.careforwild.co.za Video ©Prince Harry

A video posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:35am PST