By Rosie Mercer | Business Development Manager
Really good news was received on the 11th March2022 with the birth of a baby rhino which was truly welcomed by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife and all our local rangers within the Mosi-Oa-Tunya National Park in Livingstone. Her mum Inonge keeps her safe and mostly away from prying eyes but we have this very short video clip of her just after she was born. I think that she will take over the ‘cuteness’ factor from Jack and she has yet to be given a name so why not contact us with your ideas.
At Destination Livingstone we love our art and we do have some truly impressive artists. We have run a number of art competitions over the last 2 years and we have shared some of the winners in our last report. Here are some more very innovative ways in which to represent our wonderful rhinos. It is going to take you some time to recognise all the components of both these great artworks. I challenge you to find the ‘frog’ in the painting by Claudous.
We found this wonderful image for World Rhino Day 2021 and it has given us an incentive to produce our own localised poster of what Rhinos mean to our community. We aim to have this organised for use in the 2022 World Rhino Day. We used to have a wonderful sculpture in one of our shopping malls but alas it has succumbed to the weather conditions. Seeing this bright and beautiful example from our neighbours in Zimbabwe will spur us on to having our own public art in the city to remind us of the privilege of having some of our last remaining white rhinos right here in our city.
Our picky eaters did not appreciate the moringa which was donated to us by Moringa Initiative in Zambia but they then provided some for our rangers. We have Philimon, John and Gladson in a series of photos showing off their own moringa powder – don’t they look very stern in these photos but I know they can smile and laugh!! In addition, sturdy rechargeable torches and extension leads were bought for the two teams that guard our rhinos on a 24/7 basis. With rhino poaching on the increase again in our neighbouring countries and being in a transboundary situation here in our National Park, anything that improves our rangers’ ability to protect our rhinos is a good use of your donations. They were very appreciative of the 4 new torches. We will be researching buying appropriate night vision goggles as another measure for maintaining their own safety as well as that of our rhinos.
We use social media – facebook and Instagram – to pass on information about many aspects of our work at Destination Livingstone. The poster “Ït’s all the same” was posted for World Pangolin Day in February but also passed on information about rhinos.
During the next period we will be working to ensure that there is supplementary feed available as the grass starts to dry. Whilst some areas in Southern Province have had devastating floods, we have not had big rains in and around Livingstone and we now need to prepare for the second half of the year when grass becomes scarce. We have plenty to do together to keep our Livingstone rhinos safe and secure.
We thank you for your support.
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