The number of rhinos poached in South Africa since the beginning of this year now stands at 281, according to a statement released by the Department of Environmental Affairs on July 17.
The Kruger National Park has lost 164 rhinos to illegal killings. Limpopo, North West, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu Natal account for 110 of the total rhinos poached since the beginning of the year.
A total of 176 arrests have been made, of which 153 were poachers; 10 receivers or couriers; six couriers or buyers and seven exporters.
In response to the poaching scourge, a number of organisations and campaigns have been developed countrywide in an attempt to raise funds to for anti-poaching initiatives. One such organisation is Skydive for Rhinos, a South African conservation trust campaign.
Last week, Skydive for Rhinos literally took the fight against rhino poaching to the skies, when a dummy rhino was airlifted during the 2012 Durban Air Show.
The show attracted 12 000 spectators who watched as helicopter pilots showed off their skills in a low-flying manoeuvre that simulated a rhino poaching attack.
Pilot Brad Hatfield from JNC Helicopters took on the role of the ‘bad-guy’ in a Robinson 22 in an imitation rhino poaching attack and was driven off by a Hughes 500 piloted by Nick Cooke from Acher Aviation as the ‘Anti-Poaching Aerial Support Unit’. The Hughes 500 then airlifted the ‘tranquilised’ rhino, Ralston, the full-size rhino replica and mascot of Skydive for Rhinos, and flew him upside-down, down the length of the runway.
The manoeuvre highlighted a rhino air-sling technique developed in South Africa that suspends a tranquilised rhino by its ankles. It was used last year in the Eastern Cape for the first time by conservationists to successfully transport 20 rhinos from remote and mountainous areas.
In August 2011, 40 people skydived for rhinos for the first time, raising R500 000 for rhino anti-poaching efforts in KwaZulu Natal. This year, the Trust has set a target of 448 people throughout South Africa to ‘Skydive for Rhino’ with a fundraising target of R10 million to help improve anti-poaching measures across the country. About R4 million has been raised so far.
The organisation also emphasised the crucial role of aerial support in the rhino poaching crisis. “Aerial surveillance and the skills of helicopter pilots in rhino conservation is critical work and is one of the key issues this campaign is going to fund again,” said Sheelagh Antrobus, leader of the Skydive for Rhinos campaign and co-ordinator of the Project Rhino KZN group.
Follow the campaign on www.facebook.com/skydiveforrhinos or on Twitter @RhinoSkydiver.
