What are you doing in support of this extremely worthwhile cause?
International Rhino Day is being held this year on 22 September. It’s cause? To stop the barbaric and illegal trade in rhino horn, and to promote global rhino conservation issues.
Rhino horn is believed by some to have medicinal purposes, such as a miracle cure for fever, pain, arthritis, and even cancer. Nearly 450 rhinos were slaughtered for their horns in South Africa alone last year, and the figure this year will be more. The animals are being hunted and cruelly killed, and even rhinos in the private game reserves are being targetted.
Rhino poaching thankfully now has priority crime status, and is being dealt with on the same level as other organised crimes such as human traffiking and drug smuggling – indeed, the news this week was that 2 poachers recently caught have been sentenced to 29 years each in jail. Will this be a sufficient deterrent, however, to stop this ongoing?
I am not going to taint this blog article with the horrific pictures that we receive almost on a daily basis, when another dead rhino is found, rather, I want to focus instead on the work that some people that we work with are doing.
For example, Kim van der Westhuizen, of Springbok Atlas, is nobly throwing herself out of a plane at 10,000 feet. She is doing it tandem, with a skydive master, but still, hats off to Kim, and we applaud anyone who does this. With the jump, she is aiming to raise much needed funds for anti-poaching projects, and in particular, skills training, aerial surveillance equipment, and the implementation of community projects. You can support this cause, and Kim too, by clicking on this link:
https://www.givengain.com/activ/81635
Also in the build-up, Jaci’s Lodges, in the Madikwe Game Reserve, is challenging everyone to get involved in saving the world’s rhino by wearing their very own rhino horn in the form of an orange cone. The Jaci’s Challenge is committed to generating essential awareness to save our horned friends. By displaying a rhino horn in the form of an orange cone on every game driving vehicle at Jaci’s Lodges, the team hopes to draw attention to the rhinos’ plight, and by educating guests about the importance of rhino conservation, Jaci’s Lodges will be playing their part in an international conservation battle.
Finally, SATOA, who promote travel to Africa and the Indian Ocean, have Save the Rhino as their registered charity.
We hope that you join everyone in supporting this cause, and that one day, we will see an end to rhino poaching.
