The Rhino population where they still occur are now under threat more than ever before. The world continues to appeal to Asia to realise that the horn is nothing more than just hair with no potency or health benefits. This is my tribute to the thousands of hard-working and brave individuals who believe in the preservation of this animal. Thanks to Bill and Linda Fuchs for allowing me to produce this piece copied from a full mounted White Rhino in their studio in Franklin, North Carolina.
John Tolmay
Born in Southern Rhodesia in 1943, John Tolmay grew up immersed in the African bush, where an early fascination with wildlife and nature inspired him to begin drawing his observations. After agricultural college in South Africa, he traveled to Europe and the United States, working as a cowboy in Nebraska and New Mexico before returning to Rhodesia in 1966 to ranch.
Tolmay began guiding African hunting safaris in 1974, an experience that gave him an intimate understanding of wildlife, movement, and anatomy - knowledge that would later become fundamental to his work as a sculptor. He completed and sold his first bronze in 1989 and has since devoted himself to capturing the animals and experiences of a lifetime spent in the wild.
A committed conservationist as well as an artist, Tolmay founded Zambia's Nyawa Pilot Project, promoting community-based wildlife management and a sustainable relationship between rural communities and their natural resources.
