Through our partnership with Rhino Connect, our donations helped pay for veterinary treatment of a young rhino bull who recovered nicely and was released into a bigger area where he can graze naturally. We also supplied funding for air support at a property where shots were heard. A rhino bull was wounded but the injury was not life threatening. Our continued support of Rhino Connect gives the private rhino owners the help they need quickly and efficiently.
With funds from our Mother’s Day fundraiser, Baby Rhino Rescue was able to donate ten AI collars to Marataba Conservation Camps in the Waterberg. We attended the collaring of five rhino mothers with calves (and most likely pregnant again), two single cows and three dominant bulls. They can now be monitored and kept safe because of our wonderful donors.
Through our partner Rhino Connect, we provided veterinary care to two private rhino owners. One 4-year-old female rhino was injured during a relocation but after treatment, is now grazing happily with her new family. In another reserve, a calf broke through a fence and sustained an injury. Our funding provided the necessary care she needed.
BRR is funding a strategic security system in this area of the country. This will secure four private rhino properties and a provincial game reserve in the region. It will also provide essential security data for intelligence working to keep wildlife safe across the whole of South Africa. The first security point will be at a strategic juncture, sending information to anti-poaching units and law enforcement in the area.
Baby Rhino Rescue is funding the next level of security systems for our game reserve in the Waterberg region. This is significant because as we make this particular property safe, we make the entire area safe. This is a key area for white and black rhinos in South Africa and therefore the world. The security consists of “points” in different strategic areas that relay essential security information to the anti-poaching units and law enforcement in the area. These security points are very effective and have been responsible for the information leading to the arrest of two poachers who, with their teams, have poached many rhinos.
Through our partner Rhino Connect, Baby Rhino Rescue has provided funding for helicopter time for a variety of situations.
* We funded helicopter flying time for anti-poaching patrols in the Northwest part of South Africa. An injured young elephant was spotted on this patrol and rescued, so unexpectedly we were also able to help another species!
* We were able to provide anti-poaching helicopter support in the Gravelot region of the country.
* We provided funding for fuel to a private farm in the Northwest part of the country so they could attend to patrols via road and aerial bat-hawks!
* When an early morning call was received that a gunshot was heard in the Limpopo region, we enabled aerial surveillance. Thankfully after foot, anti-poaching dog, and air monitoring, all rhinos were accounted for. However, gunshots and cut fences were reported on a property close by. We enabled an all-security mobilization of the area and two teams of dog (K9) units. After a 36-hour hunt, everybody stood down, and the count of rhinos started. Thankfully there were no poached rhinos there!
Baby Rhino Rescue is one of the few organizations that help private rhino owners (PROs) with their expenses. And since 75% of South Africa’s rhinos are in their hands, they are a very important piece of the puzzle. With our partner Rhino Connect, we aid these heroes every month.
* BRR provided funding for wildlife veterinarian Dr. Boshoff to assist with the relocation of two young white rhino bulls. This relocation was not related to poachers – a more mature bull rhino was bullying them and had already killed a younger rhino! They were darted and moved for their safety.
* We were able to come to the aid of an injured black rhino in the Limpopo area by offering veterinary funding.
* We funded the treatment of Junior, an injured rhino in the Bela-Bela area. He had two untreated festering gunshot wounds. Junior was unable to walk properly, but after having the bullets removed, he is on his way to recovery.
* BRR funded the work of veterinarian Dr. Beverley in treating another injured rhino in the Bela-Bela area. He was struggling with a previously treated wound.
With 400,000 hectares, The Waterberg is South Africa’s biggest wildlife area outside of Kruger National Park. What makes it so vital is that with 2,000 or more rhinos, it is the biggest concentration of rhinos in the country now. The area is circled by layers of cameras and no rhinos are being poached! BRR Founder Helena Kriel and SA director Karina Suter attended the Save the Waterberg Rhino gathering in March 2022 and learned that one remaining area in the Waterberg is not protected, and this area makes the entire region vulnerable. Our mission was clear — raise money to protect this area! BRR reached out to our friends Conserv Earth and the two organizations planned a splashy golf day to make this happen. Six months later we held our Golf Day in September for World Rhino Day and R500,000 was raised. That’s more than $27,000! These funds will be used to purchase security cameras for the “red zone,” the area that is still vulnerable.
Our Mother’s Day campaign “Mothers for Mothers” was a huge success. We raised enough money to purchase six LoRa collars to be placed onto rhino moms’ ankles at Marataba Conservation. Baby Rhino Rescue is purchasing an additional three so that we can donate nine collars in total. These collars relay the exact location of each animal so reserve owners know where their rhinos are at all times. In addition, these specialty collars also learn the animal’s typical behavior – how fast it moves, when it rests, walks, and eats. When that typical behavior changes, the anti-poaching team is alerted and because they have the coordinates, can get there quickly. Imagine, these rhino moms will be walking much more safely, with their babies by their sides!
This year is all about cameras. This spring, Baby Rhino Rescue donated three License Plate Recognition cameras to 4 private rhino properties in the northern part of South Africa called Soutansberg. These cameras are connected to the South Africa Police Service and monitor all vehicles entering the area. They will not only benefit the anti-poaching team but also 54 households and the greater communities surrounding the reserve.
On the 10th of March, Rhino Connect got a call that a lonely rhino bull, with a full horn, was spotted in a provincial reserve. There was immediate fear for his safety and a team was pulled together to arrange for a horn-trimming. With help from Baby Rhino Rescue, Rhino Connect sponsored the flying time of Hope for Wildlife Helicopters. They brought the veterinarian in and also attended in-air searching and darting of the bull. His horn was successfully and safely trimmed, and he is now again roaming the area.
Baby Rhino Rescue has partnered with Wildlife Protection Solutions to fund the purchase and installation of ten motion sensor cameras for our newest partner, Marataba Conservation. These real-time cameras relay information to wpsWatch, a system that monitors activity 24/7. When wpsWatch detects wildlife threats, it sends emails or SMS alerts (along with the coordinates of the intrusion) to security and monitoring staff, prompting an immediate response to active intrusions and illegal activities.
