Shamwari rhino poaching incident

Posted on 11 November 2011

We’ve lost more rhino in the last 10 months to poaching than we did in the whole of 2010. A scary statistic floated around the internet this week:

Rhino death toll

Monday: 347
Tuesday: 349
Wednesday morning: 353
Wednesday afternoon: 362

I’m not sure who or where that stat came from but it’s pretty darn scary.

I then heard the sad and shocking news that Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape had two rhinos poached in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Just two weeks ago I had been driving around Shamwari with the General Manager and I had asked about their anti poaching efforts. The reserve is 25 000 hectares and home to a considerable number of both black and white rhino. It’s a tough job protecting so many in such a large area. He talked me through their efforts and I was impressed by their sophisticated and proactive approach. It’s just a pity that the poachers are obviously operating on a much higher level. We need to start fighting fire with fire but where and to whom is all money going to that is being donated? Surely these reserves should be able to request more funding from government and conservation organisations for more equipment and resources. It just blows my mind that there seems to be no sense of urgency at a government level.

Tanner 2, is the young white rhino bull who survived the poaching incident at Shamwari this week. Rhinos need champions such as Shamwari’s wildlife vet, Dr Johan Joubert, to ensure their survival. If poaching continues increasing at this rate, then they could be extinct as soon as 2030.

On a lighter note, last week, Green Renaissance filmed the translocation of the seventh black rhino population established by the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project, after an epic 1500 kilometre trip across the country. In this translocation, 19 of the critically endangered animals were moved from the Eastern Cape to a new location in the Limpopo province.

Watch rhinos fly through the sky! A brilliantly shot video by the Green Renaissance team.

Flying Rhinos from Green Renaissance on Vimeo.

The WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project aims to increase the range and numbers of black rhino in South Africa and has created seven significant black rhino populations in eight years. Close to 120 black rhino have now been translocated.

I urge people who want to donate money to rhino conservation to please ASK and RESEARCH before donating. There are too many people taking advantage of the situation. There’s no point in diluting all our efforts.






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