I took a walk in the wild recently, where I hanged out with a rhino and even touched its thick hide. Although this was a relatively tame rhino, called Morani, it was still a dangerous animal - so we were accompanied by a game warden who was armed with a rifle. We all walked away with our lives and limbs intact.
The rhino is a large, primitive-looking mammal that dates from the Miocene era, an ancient period during which early humans are thought to have evolved in Africa. Nowadays, the rhino is threatened by people seeking its horn for use in folk medicine and high-priced ornaments and jewelry, although it is not a true horn - it is made of thickly matted hair that grows from the skull without skeletal support.
Since 1970 the world rhino population has declined by 90 percent, with five species remaining in the world today - two of them in Africa - all of which are endangered, according to the Africa Wildlife Foundation.
My wildlife adventure also took me to a chimpanzee that quickly proved that members of the species are curious, intelligent and social - they are mammals that are most like humans.
A male chimpanzee stopped walking on the soles of feet and the knuckles of its hands when it saw humans. It stood upright and walked on two feet with great pride, and great effort, as if to say that we are no different from him. If that was the point the chimp was trying to make, then he was not far off the mark because more than 98 percent of the human genetic code is similar to that of a chimpanzee. Definitely something to think about.