Wildlife Conservation South Africa Project #14141

Protect and Save the life of Our Rhinos

by Action Change (Formerly GVI Trust)

Project Report | Sep 9, 2016
A full-moon fundraiser

By Leah Brown | GVI Limpopo, Assistant Base Manager

Enjoying a cooling mud bath!

Dear Supporters,

Your commitment to help us protect our white rhinos through your generous donations has not gone unnoticed. We have unfortunately not quite reached our target yet to purchase a new vehicle for our anti-poaching team but are well on our way.

During September GlobalGiving is offering two bonus days, which would give us just the boost we need to get us over the line for our target.

On the 21^st September, there is a Time Release Bonus Day- there is $60 000 available in matching funds, equally divided into 2 pots which will be available in 2 time slots. The first pot becomes available at 6am EDT and the second at 12pm EDT. Your donations will be matched by 30% until funds run out.
During the week of 21-27 September, there is another really exciting opportunity for any new recurring donations. If you opt-in to give us a monthly contribution during that week, your first donation will be matched by 100%!

In preparation for these bonus days, we will be gearing up for our next challenging fundraising event. As you are well aware the need to improve our anti-poaching efforts is extremely necessary, especially after the loss of yet another female with a young calf earlier this year on our reserve.

GVI staff in conjunction with the reserves anti-poaching team regularly conducts anti-poaching patrols as part of our commitment to our vulnerable rhinos. Although the threat of poachers is constant, during full moon our anxieties are heightened as the light the moon provides at this time acts as a natural torch.

In an effort to increase our presence on the reserve during this daunting time, our next fundraising event has been set. On the 16^th of September, when the next full moon falls, GVI will conduct an anti-poaching patrol for a continuous 24-hour period. It will require an enormous effort from staff and volunteers alike to motivate each other to push through those long hours, but with your help as well we can do it!

If you would like to make a contribution towards our efforts please keep the bonus days in mind, as your help on those days is even more valuable. A big thanks in advance from the staff, volunteers and of course the rhinos as well!

With Gratitude,

GVI South Africa

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Jun 13, 2016
Why do we need a new vehicle for our anti-poaching team?

By Richard | GVI Limpopo, Base Manager

Dear Supporters,

If you recall, last month we hosted a Week of Challenges, raising money for our anti-poaching team. We are happy to tell you that we are making great progress towards our goal to buy a new vehicle for our anti-poaching team.

Today I would like to give you a little bit more information about why the need for their vehicle is so critical.

South Africa is home to 90% of the world's rhino population. Since 2007, 5,061 rhinos have been killed in South Africa, nearly 25% of the total population. Our anti-poaching team plays a crucial role to our rhino conservation effort at Karongwe. They work 24 hours, 7 days each week to keep our rhinos safe from the increasing threat of malicious poaching.

Their efforts have extended as far as to humanely remove our rhinos' horns, averting the draw of poachers, and leaving our animals with their lives. Unfortunately, driven by their greed, poachers will still invade our reserve to steal the humble stub of horn our rhinos have left, murdering the animals in the process for their own convenience. To keep poachers at bay, the anti-poaching team patrols our reserve's fence-line day and night, with only ATV's to cover our 8,000 hector grounds. With a vehicle, they would be able to much more efficiently patrol our grounds, better protecting our precious rhinos from a gruesome fate.

We need your help!

You can help this BONUS DAY!

This month, we are very fortunate for the opportunity to increase the amount of funds raised for this cause, and we hope that you will take advantage of this incredible opportunity!

GlobalGiving is willing to match any donations that you make on the 15 June by 50%. The bonus day starts at 9am EDT (New York), 2pm BST (London) and 3pm CAT (here in Limpopo). Any amount that you are able to give will be matched by 50% and will greatly contribute to this worthy cause, fighting the ongoing battle against rhino poaching.

We've created a video to raise further awareness about our cause. You can view it and share it by following this link. *Warning, video contains footage of that may affect sensitive viewers.

Thank you!

With Gratitude,

GVI Limpopo

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Apr 7, 2016
A bit of fun and games

By Richard Wilks | GVI Limpopo Base Manager

Dear Supporters,

Coming into the new year we have had to be super creative when it comes to new ideas to fundraise for our rhinos… and we think we’ve hit a winner. We’ re going to call it The Week of Challenges!

The volunteers and staff will be pushed to their limits when we set an entire week of rhino themed tasks for them. The plan is as follows:

Monday: Mumma rhino tied to baby rhino for a day, just as they would stick together in the wild. Volunteers and staff will be paired up and tied to their mate for a day. Toilet trips are exempt from the union, but all other day-to-day activities must be completed with your fellow buddy.

Tuesday: White rhino are walking the fine line between near threatened and vulnerable. It is a hard balancing act to try and keep them closer to the ‘healthy population numbers’ end of the scale, but with antipoaching efforts increasing we can help to ensure their numbers do not decline further. Volunteers and staff will also see how hard it is to keep the balance by balancing an egg on a spoon whilst on a game drive. Something tells us this they won’t find this easy at all!

Wednesday: The most distinctive and impressive feature of rhino is surely their horn. Volunteers and staff will spend an entire day proudly wearing a replica of the rhino’s greatest asset, it's horn. This includes during whilst eating meals and while on game drive. We’re hoping we will spark the interest of other tourists who may further help towards our cause.

Thursday: Rhinos love nothing more than to wallow in a squishy puddle of mud. I guess you could call it a rhino shower! But today their favourite wallow was occupied by a herd of elephants so they are going to have to go smelly. It will be a very smelly house after the volunteers and staff will save water by skipping showers for a day.

Friday: Winter has hit hard and there is no food to be seen, the rhinos will go hungry for a day, but luckily a watering hole nearby will supply them with fluids! Volunteers and staff will fast from sunrise to sunset, the hours during which rhino typically feed. They will have access to as much water as they want and of course sweets to keep their sugar levels up!

This week will surely be a test especially on top of our normal routine here on base. The Week of Challenges will run from the 16^th – 10^th May. We will need all the support we can get!

Our main aim for this super challenge is to raise funds to purchase a new vehicle for our anti-poaching team here on Karongwe. It will be used to conduct anti-poaching patrols and will help to deter poachers from entering the reserve, keeping our precious rhinos free from harm.

Watch this space for pictures and updates from the event, it's going to be our biggest fundraising event yet!

With Gratitude,

GVI South Africa

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