Prince Harry Gets Up Close & Personal With Endangered Animals In South Africa -- The Pictures May Shock You!

Tragically, over 30,000 elephants were killed last year for their tusks.
The problem of animal poaching continues to be a huge passion for Prince Harry — who spent time over the summer in South Africa working one on one with some of the most endangered animals.
On Wednesday, the 31-year-old royal shared stunning moments from his trip on the Kensington Palace Instagram account.
Related: Prince Harry On Being A Bad Boy In School!
Alongside each image, Prince William‘s younger bro wrote a specific story full of shocking facts and descriptions of the work that is being done to save these animals.
Is there anything Harry doesn’t do?!
In one photo of him laying on a sedated rhino (above), he remembered:

“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.”

Take a look inside the rest of Harry’s journey (below)!

Prince Harry has released this personal photo taken during his summer visit to southern Africa. Here Prince Harry shares his story behind the photograph… “I was working with Dr. Mark Jago and Dr. Pete Morkel in Namibia. Some countries are de-horning small populations of rhino to deter poachers from shooting them. It is a short-term solution and surely no substitute for professional and well-trained rangers protecting these highly sought-after animals. De-horning has to be done every two years for it to be effective and can only realistically be done with small populations in open bush. My initial task each time was to monitor the heart rate and oxygen levels and help stabilise them as quickly as possible. My responsibilities then grew to taking blood and tissue samples and the de-horning itself.” You can learn more and how to help by visiting: https://www.savetherhino.org/africa_programmes/save_the_rhino_trust_namibia Photograph ├é┬⌐ Prince HarryA photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:24am 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… “By this point many people will have heard of ├óΓé¼╦£Hope├óΓé¼Γäó, a young female black rhino that was brutally wounded by poachers in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This was the second operation to try to save this animal├óΓé¼Γäós life. Some poachers use a dart gun and tranquilize the animal so as to not have to fire a shot that would be heard. They then hack their face off while the animal is paralysed before running off with the horn. Local communities saw her stumbling through the bush and then alerted the authorities. Thanks to Dr William Fowlds and his team, Hope survived and is making a speedy recovery. I stared into her eyes while operating on her and thought at first that it would have been better and fairer to put her down rather than put her through the pain. Afterwards I was told of another female called Thandi who was in a similar state in 2012. She now has a baby calf called Thembi.” Every single rhino matters. If you want to help have a look at: www.wildernessFoundation.co.za Photograph ├é┬⌐Prince HarryA photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:27am 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 ├é┬⌐Prince HarryA photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:32am PST

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├óΓé¼Γäót 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 ├é┬⌐Prince HarryA video posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:35am PST

Prince Harry has released this personal video taken during his visit to southern Africa. Here Prince Harry shares his story behind the video… “Trying to stop a three tonne rhino with a rope and a blindfold isn├óΓé¼Γäót easy! Especially in this harsh terrain in Botswana. Mapp Ives and Kai Collins, with the help of Botswana Defence Force and the government, are doing everything they can to protect their newly reintroduced rhino population. This sometimes means having to sedate them to check on how they├óΓé¼Γäóre doing.” If you want to find out more, look at Rhino Conservation Botswana: www.rhinoconservationbotswana.com/rhinoconservatio.html Video ├é┬⌐ Prince HarryA video posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 2:37am 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 ├é┬⌐ Prince HarryA photo posted by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Dec 2, 2015 at 3:43am PST

These powerful images and stories are incredibly sad but so important for the education on how to help save these precious species.
Great work, Harry!!!
[Image via Instagram/WENN.]