South African National Parks (SANParks) has received a new Airbus AS-350B3e helicopter with night flying capability, made available with funding from the US-based Howard G Buffet Foundation (HGBF).

SANParks Board Chairperson, Kuseni Dlamini, announced that SANParks had received an initial grant funding of R254.8 million in 2014 to support anti-poaching operations in the Kruger National Park. “This incorporated the establishment of ‘air mobility capacity’ and included the purchase of the first helicopter in September 2014.”

He said subsequent to the initial grant funding, the HGBF had granted SANParks an additional R37.7 million to purchase a second Airbus AS350 B3e helicopter, with night flying capability, to further increase the capacity of SANParks’ rhino anti-poaching flight operations in the Kruger park.

He said as an integral part of the current strategy to combat rhino poaching in the Kruger National Park, SANParks was in the process of applying and evaluating various technologies that include Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The project will run for a year.