TAHARKA

• Diceros bicornis sapiens

• Committed to returning native rhino territories to their original extensive ranges, Taharka battles armed poachers and human soldiers who intrude into his expanding boundaries.

• In the last century, the black rhino population was reduced by a staggering 95%. They have been slaughtered for sport and for their durable hides, but the largest threat to rhino survival is excessive poaching for their horns. Black rhino horns, typically 20 inches long, are used mostly to make dagger handles and in traditional Asian medicine. Close to extinction, protecting these animals is made more difficult by civil war in historic rhino ranges. When millions of people are being killed and displaced by the fighting, animal protection is not a concern. In the countries most heavily hit by war, black rhinos are now nonexistent.

• Taharka is a martial arts master, particularly of the Hikuta technique. He befuddles his enemies with a 3,000-pound display of rushing, whirling rhino in their midst. Taharka penetrates hard targets with his titanium-capped horns then executes sudden and explosive strikes to eliminate all opponents. He uses his skills to disrupt the campaigns of armed humans, whether poachers, mercenaries, or soldiers. As he pushes to regain lost habitat, Taharka has occasionally triggered destructive engagements between two factions, but only after noncombatants are safely secured. Taharka believes in working with good humans to achieve common goals – not a popular position with all the I.W.G. members. Yeti, who shares his viewpoint, hooked him up with the Internet to contact sympathetic humans. Since then Taharka has learned to code web applications in his spare time.

• Get the Taharka Designer Vinyl Toy!