A letter to my daughter I hope I never have to send

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry for letting you down, for letting the world down, and for letting a creature that once roamed the earth for millions of years slip away. The Sumatran rhino, with its thick coat of bristling hair and mournful song, is no longer a living testament to our planet’s wild past. Instead, it has become a casualty of our time—an era marked by loss, negligence, and the slow unraveling of nature’s fabric.

When you were born, less than fifty of these magnificent beings remained, scattered in the shrinking forests of Sumatra and possibly Borneo. We knew then that the clock was ticking, that every day counted. Yet, despite our knowledge, despite the calls for action, we failed. We failed to capture and protect enough rhinos, failed to restore their habitats, and failed to halt the relentless march of poaching and habitat destruction that drove them to the edge.

Now, as I write this, I can’t help but feel the weight of our collective failure. How could we let this happen? How did we allow one of Earth’s oldest species, a creature that survived ice ages and the rise and fall of empires, to vanish on our watch?

But this is not just about the Sumatran rhino. It’s about what we lose when we allow a species to disappear. It’s about the holes we tear in the web of life and the inheritance we leave to you and your generation—a world that is poorer, lonelier, and less full of wonder.

This is a letter I hope I never have to deliver to you. You just turned three, and the Sumatran rhino is currently on a trajectory to be functionally extinct in the wild before you’re able to vote.

But it’s not too late. 

There is still time to act, to change the course of history. If we come together, if we fight with everything we have, we can save this species before it blinks out forever. 

This letter can remain a warning, not a farewell. 

And one day, you can tell your children that when it mattered most, we stood up and chose to protect life—no matter how difficult, no matter how late, no matter how small the chance.

Because in the end, hope is a powerful force, and when combined with action, it can change the world.

World Rhino Day is September 22nd.