Rhino Horns in Museums = Endangered!

Rhino head in England's Museum of Natural History in Tring after the theft of a replica (!) horn

This is a topic that I almost feel tempted to write about on my art history blog, since it deals with museums and crime. But since the target of theft has been natural history museums, I thought I would write about it here.

This past weekend I recently read a little blurb in a recent National Geographic about the rising theft of rhino horns from museums (February 2012, p. 21). In the first eight months of 2011, thieves broke into multiple museums, a zoo, an auction house, and even a Czech castle. Apparently, rhino horns are fetching prices on the black market that rival that of gold or cocaine, partially because of an Asian rumor that the horns can cure cancer. The demand for horns has is driving thieves to do pretty desperate things. In some instances, the thieves have made off with 200-pound mounted heads!

Luckily, due to the rise of thefts, the Museum of National History in Tring had replaced their rhino horns with replicas out of resin (and therefore held no commercial value). The missing horn in the image above was a fake! Other museums have been advised to hide their rhinos or install replicas, too.

What does this mean for the future of rhinos (in zoos or in display cases)? National Geographic grimly notes that "postmortem poachers are making the imperiled species an imperiled specimen as well" (February 2012, p. 21).

Here's another article in the New York Times on the same subject, if you are interested.

Young Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Have you ever seen Cupid depicted with an ear horn before?)

There is a little girl at Sam's school who has a mega-crush on my son. I think it's adorable. From what I have heard, she always wants to get Sam to play "prince and princess" with her at school, and often asks Sam if he will marry her. One of the teachers at school told me that this girl asked the other day, "Sam, did you know that you are handsome?" And Sam said, "Yeah. [Pause.] I know."

This little girl's mom says that Sam is quite the topic of conversation in their home. And when I come to pick up Sam from school, this cute girl tries to ask me questions about Sam. "What does Sam's house look like?" "What is Sam's dad's name?" "Does Sam live by a hill?" I guess she wants to visualize more of Sam's life when he isn't around at school.

My son, on the other hand, is totally oblivious to her affection. He didn't even report that he "marries" this little girl when he is at school. Obviously, marriage doesn't phase him that much (or it's not exciting enough to report to your mom).

Anyhow, yesterday this little girl gave Sam a really darling valentine with her photo. The picture was taken in a studio with a backdrop and props set up for a Valentine's Day theme. She's wearing sparkly shoes and hugging a little heart pillow. It's darling. I know that she gave photos of herself to the other kids in the class, too, but I guess that her Valentine had added significance for my handsome little man.

J saw this photo and was reminded of when Alicia M. gave him a valentine in third grade that had her photo (in soft focus, he remembers). That reminded me of when I got a love note in second grade from David S., who wrote "Whenever I see you, my heart goes crazy." (That's pretty romantic thing for a boy in second-grade to write, don't you think?)

It will be interesting to see when Cupid will pay a visit to our little man. (At this rate, I don't think it will be for a long time, which is fine with me!) This morning I tried to get him to make a nice Valentine's Day video clip for family members, but he wasn't completely cooperative. If any family members see this (who are not mentioned by name in the clip), please know that you are still loved by my son. He's just rather fickle with his emotions at three years old. I promise that he loves you more than, oh, his shirt.