Support Mounted Rangers Fighting Rhino Poaching

Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who donated so generously to the Support Mounted Rangers Fighting Rhino Poaching Project. After an intensive three weeks of fundraising, we were delighted to reach our $5,000 target – and be accepted as a GlobalGiving partner on their fundraising platform!

We are most grateful for all the support we have received: volunteers who helped to raise awareness, donations from the sale of designer bikinis, custom shoe-polish kits, Horse Unit caps, bespoke jewellery – and of course personal donations from you, our donors. The final donation amount of $5,054.97 was received at the end of July 2018 and this has been transferred to our dedicated ACT Rhino Fund account.

At the moment, there are mounted patrols operating in four game reserves in the Midlands, as well as KwaZulu-Natal’s flagship Reserve, Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, in the Zululand region. Another two game reserves are interested in establishing Horse Units in the near future. Project Rhino has been in contact with its members and supporting game reserves to identify the most critical and immediate needs; these include feed and health care for horses, equipment for rangers, basic riding tack and the fencing of paddocks.

Thus far, we have purchased one month’s feed and will be making additional purchases later this month. We are also in the process of measuring and securing quotes for the erection of solar fencing at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park. As a Big 5 Reserve, the seven horses remain vulnerable to attacks from predators, particularly lions. Once the final figures have been determined, we can then allocate funding to the purchase of riding equipment; to this end we have started measuring horses in the community-run reserves for the purchase of saddles and saddle blankets.

Section ranger and head of the Hluhluwe horse unit, Sibonelo Zulu, has reported that since the resurrection of the unit last year, the team has proven highly effective in deterring poachers. “We have big areas that we need to cover, and without horses we can’t do it. It’s much easier to do patrols on horses… Although it is very dangerous for us, it is proving to be very effective.”