Press Releases By Brigitte le Roux
The Rhinos Without Borders project has ensured a bright future for an additional 12 white rhino, which were recently airlifted to their safe new home in Botswana. They were removed from a high risk area in South Africa, where rhino are being poached at the rate of one every eight hours.
The latest achievement was another milestone towards the project’s goal of bringing 100 rhinos across the subcontinent, from high risk areas in South Africa to highly protected safe havens in Botswana. The rhinos were deposited on a dirt airstrip in an undisclosed location by a Botswana Defence Force C130 airplane and under heavy military guard. The animals were then ferried to their ultimate destination suspended upside down beneath a helicopter. This dramatic method is regarded as the safest and easiest way of getting the heavyweight animals to their brand new home in remote and otherwise inaccessible parts of Botswana.
Rhino are currently being poached at the rate of one every eight hours.
His Excellency Lieutenant-General SKI Khama, the President of Botswana, as well as TK Khama, the Honourable Minister of Tourism, both participated in the release. The minister expressed his conviction that the unique partnership, which combines government involvement with private companies such as andBeyond and Great Plains as well as private donors, proves that tourism can make a significant difference in the conservation of Africa.
“The number of rhino lost to poachers in South Africa is now higher than the rate at which the species can breed and there is an urgent need to create a new breeding population of rhino in a different geographic region.
The Rhinos Without Borders team have already earmarked an additional batch of rhino for translocation. To find out more or to contribute towards future rhino translocations, visit www.rhinoswithoutborders.com.
ISSUED BY: media@andBeyond.com
www.andBeyond.com / greatplainsconservation.com/
ALL IMAGES © David Murray
