Project Rhino K9 Unit: Defending African Wildlife

Dear GlobalGiving friends

On average, one rhino is still poached every 16 hours. Most of the rhinos poached last year were killed in Namibia and South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal has been increasingly targeted.

But fortunately, there are some incredible organisations working to stop wildlife crime and we are proud to have partnered with the Cumbria Zoo Company, Dogs 4 Wildlife, Institute for Close Personal Protection (IFPCP), and Bonamanzi Game Reserve in a brand new Bonamanzi Ranger and K9 Unit. The Unit provides more boots and paws on the ground to help fight the area’s poaching pandemic.

On a recent trip to KwaZulu-Natal’s wildlife reserves, the Cumbria management team were shocked at the cruelty of poaching and snaring happening daily in our conservation areas. Project Rhino member Bonamanzi Game Reserve is one such reserve. With the Hluhluwe River running along its boundary, the reserve is vulnerable to incursions and has lost several animals to poaching and snaring, in particular giraffe. As our K9 manager describes,

 “Snare poaching and increased incidents in KZN with rhino poaching has been devastating. There have been many more incidents and the death of several rhinos have been completely pointless as we have had rhinos shot that have been dehorned four months previously.

“The added increase in rangers at Bonamanzi means there have been an increase in snares being found which is really positive...”

The new Bonamanzi Unit includes two rangers and will have two K9s – one is a tracking and apprehension dog named Dan (Belgian Malinois) who is on site. When funding is secured, the second K9 will be Nkosi, a tracking, search and detection dog (Bavarian Mountain Hound). In a short amount of time, Dan and the new rangers have already proven their worth and impact in deterring bushmeat poachers and removing snares from the reserve.

In March, the Project Rhino and Bonamanzi K9 Units had a heart in mouth moment when they located an 18-month rhino calf named Viola caught in a snare. Viola's mother was also nearby and had to be sedated for safety reasons. Thankfully, due to the quick response of the K9 units, veterinary and helicopter assistance, both rhinos were saved. *Viola is named after actress Viola Davies, who was filming on location in KwaZulu-Natal at the time of her birth.

From January to December 2022, the Project Rhino K9-Unit removed more than 800 snares on daily patrols. Snare poaching is a cruel hunting method that does not discriminate on what species of animals it wounds or kills. We remain committed to our mission of stopping wildlife crime and the Project Rhino and Bonamanzi Units are striving to have zero incidents of snares being laid on their watch.

A huge thank you once again for your incredible support in helping to keep the Project Rhino K9-Unit operating and effective. We couldn’t do it without you!