A painting by celebrated Kenyan artist and conservationist Karen Laurence Rowe auctioned at a remarkable Sh2.2 Million on Thursday night in London.
Titled "The Accuser", the painting depicts a black rhino charging triumphantly and trampling over AK47 bullets on the ground that represent the weapon driving the species to the brink of extinction.
Karen's painting is part of her spirited fight against poaching of the animals that is motivated by the use of the rhino horns in Chinese medicine.
[caption caption="Karen with the painting "The Accuser" during the auction"]
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Initially, the painting depicted the rhino smashing through Chinese medicine bottles but Karen overpainted the bottles to minimize their visual distraction while still maintaining the stern message against poaching and its facilitators.
"It totally angers me that despite scientific proof that rhino horns have no medicinal value whatsoever, in fact, it is made of the same stuff as our fingernails, people are still buying it?!" Karen posed.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, she revealed that the funds raised through the auction will be used to construct a new vet unit at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia County.
In 2017, another painting by Karen titled "The Last Three" sold for Ksh2.6million and depicted the only three northern white rhinos in the world then, Sudan, Najin or Fatu that have been under 24-hour surveillance and armed guards protection at Ol Pejeta.
The health of 45-year old Sudan, the last male, deteriorated on March, 19 following a serious infection occasioned by age-related bed sores.
Reports by the conservancy, indicated that Sudan was put to sleep on Monday evening after his vets concluded he was unlikely to make any positive response to treatment as his condition critically worsened.
[caption caption="An earlier painting by Karen "The Last Three""]
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The inability of the remaining female northern white rhinos to reproduce naturally due to infertility and age-related challenges has made scientists turn to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer as the last hope to save the species from extinction.
[caption caption=""The Accuser" painting in progress"]
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[caption caption="Chinese bottles that featured in earlier stages of the painting"]
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Here is the video:
[Video: ]
