Project Rhino K9 Unit: Defending African Wildlife

Temperatures have begun to soar in Zululand, but our K9-Unit remains hard at work, at all hours of the day and night. Here is a brief summary of some of their activities for the last quarter:

The K9-Unit provided support to a number of state, community-owned and private game reserves, as well as to the South African Police Services and local law enforcement. Both the tracking and detection units had a busy few months, the latter conducting numerous vehicle and foot patrols, both during the day and at night.

The tracking units were called out on several occasions, these included the pursuit of suspects related to rhino and bushmeat poaching, as well as other crimes of theft and assault. K9 Bonnie and her handler were airlifted by helicopter on two occasions, one of them for an epic six hour track across rivers and difficult terrain which resulted in the arrest of two suspects in a local community. The tracking unit’s reputation and ability to follow scents through thick vegetation, and for many kilometres, continues to serve as a strong deterrent to any persons thinking about wildlife crime involvement.

In addition to patrols and call-outs, the K9-Unit was involved in a “walk for rhino,” a fundraiser organised by St Catherine’s school. Our K9 Mali proved very popular as he walked the three kilometre route with pupils and parents. The Unit also conducted demonstrations at game reserves and at a local school. One unusual call-out was for the removal of a 1,5 metre python from the Ngweni stockyard. The snake was located and safely released into the bush.

Fundraising remains one of our biggest concerns. The administration team are constantly working on innovative ways to raise funds to support the K9-Unit in the face of a diminishing economy and increasing donor fatigue. In this regard, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Ritchie Ford and, in particular, Ms Camilla Naidoo of Tiger Wheel & Tyre Empangeni who donated and fitted four new off-road tyres to our response unit. This was a huge relief for the team, as the vehicle in question had previously been stuck in the mud whilst on a call-out in the rain. Thank you also to Somkhanda, Manyoni, Thula-Thula and Phinda Reserves who kindly donated 260 litres of fuel for the vehicles. Finally, thank you to the individual donors whose contributions purchased much needed shade cloth for the dog runs – this will allow the dogs much more freedom as they are typically restricted to their kennel areas on hot days.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you, our donors and supporters, for continuing to make our work possible. May 2019 be a good year for our rhino!