Rhinos are part of our heritage. We have two kinds of rhinoceros in Africa – the black rhino and the white rhino. There are approximately 4000 black rhino and 20 000 white rhino surviving in the wild due to the dedicated conservation efforts of the past 50 years. But rhino conservation is expensive and ongoing. Poaching is a constant reality in spite of the massive efforts on the ground by the heroes who defend our rhinos. By September this year, already nearly 300 of our rhino had been killed.

WWF is dedicating the second International Rhino Day, on 22nd September, to the brave men and women who devote their lives to defending rhinos. They are true heroes and we salute them.

Protecting rhinos requires resources and work on many levels: the illegal demand and trade of rhino horn needs to be stopped; rangers on the ground need equipment; police and prosecutors need training in crime scene investigation so that poachers don’t walk free on technicalities, and we need to encourage rapid growth of rhino populations by expanding the territory on which they can breed. All of this forms part of WWF’s multi-pronged rhino conservation work. You can be a part of what we are doing.

Donations can be made at www.wwf.org.za or by direct deposit:

We are doing everything we can to help save them. Last year you helped us raise more than a million rand during Rhino Month. This money was spent on the training of sniffer dogs, the development of a national white rhino DNA database, the purchase of a computer tracking system to assist rhino rangers, supporting the Pretoria Veterinary Genetic Laboratory’s rhino horn DNA profiling, purchasing electronic scanners for rhino horn detection at ports in South Africa and Vietnam, and for training prosecutors in case management. And that’s not all. More than a million rand was provided over the last year through WWF’s Black Rhino Range Expansion Project for rhino security on important reserves in KwaZulu-Natal.

For more information, visit www.wwf.org.za or contact Candice Adams-King on +27 21 657 6600.

Your donation will make a difference.