Support Mounted Rangers Fighting Rhino Poaching

Dear friends and supporters

We are delighted to share a brief summary of our Equine team’s activities over the last three months.

In June, Kim Isaacs and her team hosted an Equine Ride4Rhino “Paper Chase” and Country Market event at Seaton Estate in Ballito as a fundraiser for Project Rhino.  It was an incredible event, with riders having a fantastic time, dressing up and riding along a picturesque route to the beach. Quadasi and Maqhinga was the headline act, who aside from promoting Zulu culture, traditional music and social cohesion have also been actively involved in rhino conservation, working alongside the Kingsley Holgate Foundation and Project Rhino as Rhino Art Ambassadors.  Kim and her team managed to raise a whopping R40 000 for rhino conservation and the Project Rhino horse units with this fantastic event, which we are hoping to make an annual event on the  Conservation calendar.

We would like to once again thank all our donors and partners who continue to support the work of Project Rhino and those on the frontline of the rhino poaching crisis. Your contributions and support continues to make a tremendous difference to the teams on the frontline - a huge thank you!

The Equine unit that is based in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) - the oldest proclaimed nature reserve in Africa, consisting of 960 km² of hilly topography, has just completed their annual controlled burns to prevent wild fires from take place.  This year the Nqumeni Section was part of the burning plan and therefore there is no natural grass and feed left for the horses.  We are currently carting hay in for the horses to supplement their diets.  Unfortunately by the end of the winter months the horses do loose body condition as the nutritional value in the food is not high enough and we are finding that the horses’ hooves are also severely cracking.   It is therefore a priority for us to ensure that we stock up on good quality hay for the horses and get a farrier in to look after their hooves to ensure that they stay fit and healthy and good for their daily routine.  The horse unit proves to be incredibly impactful, and has made it much easier for rangers to cover long distances and reach different parts of the Park.

A lack of funding is a key challenge to the Horse Unit. The horse unit is currently receiving donations of bags of horse feed to sustain the unit from Epol. Ideally, we would like to increase the size of the horse unit and ranger team as the horses and rangers are working incredibly long hours.

Project Rhino is committed to supporting the Hluhluwe Imfolozi horse unit as much as we possibly can to help relieve some of the pressures that they are experiencing. Our fundraising focus for this period is on buying bags of feed, as well as supporting a groom with a small monthly salary.