Ancient, iconic and rare, rhinos have been roaming the earth for 50 million years. These charismatic animals are an invaluable part of the Big 5 – an irreplaceable part of our African natural heritage that drives eco-tourism, contributing significantly to job creation...
Chipembere Rhino Foundation (CRF) recently received an amazing donation of £1,300 (R25,195.30), raised by renowned artist, marine conservationist and environmental educator, Michael Carnegie. During a charity night held at the Doghouse, St Merryn, the funds were raised through a raffle of his painting “Porthcothan 17:50”; the sale of prints; as well as donations; with the help from fellow RNLI lifeguards, Patagonia Manchester and local pub employees, amongst others.
Riley Devan, a 13-year-old boy in Grade 8 at Selborne Primary School in East London, has already helped to raise more than R25,000 for organisations that work to save his favourite animals: the critically endangered rhino. Riley’s Rally for Rhinos started in 2014...
Excerpt from Dereck Joubert, Chairman, Great Plains Foundation: It was very much like a blood moon as Beverly and I drove towards Duba Plains Camp and my mind toyed with the fact that for some rhinos it would literally be a blood moon. The red full moon was, in this case, setting before dawn as we mobilized; and somewhere in South Africa poachers were washing their hands after a hard night’s work, as they do most full moons now.
This is exactly what happened in the second week of September this year shortly after a friend of mine, Markus Jenson, who owns land in South Africa, contacted me about his rhinos. We’d been debating whether he should sell his rhinos and fund some anti-poaching on his land or give them to us (you no doubt know my feelings on this). A few days after our discussion he called me and said that the night before on a wonderful full moon, he’d heard gunshots. Four of his rhinos were dead.
On a lay day during the recent 2015 J-Bay Open, Stop No. 6 on the 2015 Samsung Galaxy World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), top surfers Kelly Slater, 11-time world champion from the US and Australian WSL Title Contender Owen Wright, joined renowned wildlife veterinarian Dr William Fowlds and the Chipembere Rhino Foundation (CRF) on a special operation to dart and fit a tracking collar to the leg of a threatened white rhino. Exposing these top athletes to the vital tracking components applied in protecting this iconic species allows them to share in some of the work that the Chipembere team and those under the rhino conservation are doing to better protect rhinos from poachers.