Support Mounted Rangers Fighting Rhino Poaching

A huge thank you to our GlobalGiving donors for supporting the work of Project Rhino and those on the frontline of the rhino poaching crisis. Your contributions and support continue to make a tremendous difference in the battle against wildlife crime and we value each and every donation. Here is a brief update on what we have been up to the last few months.

Last month, the Project Rhino anti-poaching teams were visited by the 'Guardians of Nature' film crew, alongside the Safe Harbor Foundation and Game Rangers Association of Africa. The Guardians of Nature documentary will highlight the critical role that teams like aerial response, K9 and Equine units play in protecting Earth’s wildlife and critical ecosystems.

On a similar note, in our last report we mentioned a short video on Project Rhino filmed by Big Red Design Agency. This video has been completed and is available online. Please visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxwnlqfaLE8&ab_channel=BigRedDesignAgency to view.

Our field rangers play a vital role in the protection and management of wildlife and conservation areas, working in remote locations and putting their lives at risk. Project Rhino remains committed to supporting these rangers and Anti-Poaching teams working in protected areas wherever possible. We are assisting in coordinating a number of training programs for our member reserves in the next coming months, to ensure that filed rangers are fully prepared should they be faced with a poaching incident. And in July, Project Rhino Director Grant Fowlds will be attending the IUCN African Parks Congress in Rwanda to facilitate a workshop with rangers across the world. The workshop will highlight some of our work, share information and strategies and hopefully generate solutions to the current wildlife crime crisis. We are also proud to announce that we have recently been accepted as an official Member of the Game Rangers Association of Africa, member number 1938!

Conservation education, generating awareness and community support are essential if we want to win the fight against wildlife crime. In the last few months, we have continued to deliver food parcels to mums and children in crèches as part of the greater Community Upliftment programme which has now delivered almost 2 million meals to wildlife communities. The Rhino Art team are also back on the road, delivering their conservation message to schools living near to game reserves and building a new generation of conservation ambassadors.

And of course, fundraising is required to keep our projects going. As everyone is struggling with the current economic downturn, we are looking at innovative campaigns which will hopefully appeal to a large audience. We are running our annual Civvies Day for Rhinos campaign again, in which schools wear casual clothes to school on a selected a day to celebrate rhinos and wildlife. We are also a founder of the Oceans 8 Charity Swim, in which participants will be swimming 8 miles over two days to generate funding and awareness for 14 local charities. And we are working on a ‘Night at the Theatre' which will feature a celebrity comedian or historian, now that venues are open to the public again.

Please follow Project Rhino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for updates on our projects and campaigns, and if you can, give them a ‘like’ or a ‘share’ as these really do help. Thank you for your ongoing support, we couldn’t do it without you!