As a warden of Uganda’s largest national park, Murchison Falls, Juma Mohammed’s main task is to repel poachers. “We must conduct patrols day and night,” says Mohammed, who coordinates a platoon of rangers. “If we don’t, the poachers will take over.” The battle between rangers and poachers in Uganda intensified after the outbreak of COVID-19. As cities locked down and … [Read more...]
Intervention needed in Kwazulu-Natal rhino poaching case
In the lead-up to World Rhino Day on 22 September, Saving the Wild, in partnership with the Djimon Hounsou Foundation, make an urgent plea for South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to acknowledge the serious allegations of bribery against suspended Kwazulu-Natal court president Eric Nzimande, who has been receiving his full salary of around 1.4 million Zar annually since … [Read more...]
Rhino poaching prevention powers up in KZN
Whilst rhino dehorning is not a “silver bullet,” Dale Wapender, Phinda’s Assistant Reserve Manager, says that it’s paying dividends as the brutal poaching of rhino horn has been substantially reduced in the Park. “Before we started dehorning our rhino, we used to lose one-two of these magnificent animals every month to poachers. Now more than 99% of our rhino population has … [Read more...]
Rhino massacre in Western Cape as festive season starts
Searl Derman, owner of Inverdoorn Private Game Reserve, just outside of Cape Town in the Western Cape, South Africa, and his management and staff are left traumatised after four rhinos (including one pregnant female) were found massacred on Wednesday night. At approximately 22h30 the 24 hour Anti-Poaching Unit raised the alarm as they found the horrific scene of four shot … [Read more...]
Game reserve needs support in bolstering anti-poaching efforts
Somkhanda Game Reserve rangers are joining more than 150 ranger teams across Africa in gearing up for the 2021 Wildlife Ranger Challenge. This multi-million-dollar fundraising initiative culminates on 18 September and supporting thousands of the men and women on the frontline of Africa’s protected areas. Africa’s rangers are stretched to capacity and continue to see drastic … [Read more...]
Monaco royalty raises awareness about rhino poaching
Imagine if we had to wake up on a planet that no longer had any rhinos. Will we tell our children that we did nothing as these magnificent creatures were hunted into extinction? What a tragic day that will be! This is exactly the scenario Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene of Monaco wants to avoid. HSH Princess Charlene’s recent trip to Africa began as an opportunity to … [Read more...]
Back to the wild: a story of orphaned rhino
Somkhanda Community Game Reserve, co-managed by WILDLANDS – a programme of the WILDTRUST, will for the first-time release two white rhino orphans back into the wild, giving them a second chance at a normal life. Makhosi (4 years old), who was named by the Zulu Royal family and Mpilo (3 years old) or Ncenga iMpilo in full, a name he was given by the Emvokweni Community Trust, … [Read more...]
African conservation documentary wins at film festival
South African conservation documentary, The Edge of Existence, by Black Bean Productions, has scooped a top award at the 10th annual Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF), taking place from 1 October to 8 November 2020. Out of 150 documentaries at the festival, The Edge of Existence – which took three years to film, with the crew sometimes spending days or even weeks … [Read more...]
EWT needs your donations to fight poaching
The “storm” that is COVID 19 has arrived in South Africa and by all accounts, we have weathered it better than many had predicted. I like to put this down to the resilience and fighting spirit of South African people from all walks of life. We are certainly a nation of survivors! The lengthy lockdown has not however been without severe, and in some cases, catastrophic … [Read more...]
World Environment Day calls for an end to nature’s destruction
One million plant and animal species risk extinction, largely due to human activities. These are issues the world cannot lose sight of even as we tackle the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis. The theme for World Environment Day, 5 June 2020, is biodiversity — a call to action to combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural … [Read more...]
Can coronavirus save the African pangolins?
Wildlife conservationists and enthusiasts around the world have been celebrating an apparent silver lining in the latest coronavirus epidemic since the Xinhua News Agency in China reported earlier this month that researchers had found a 99% genetic match between a virus found in pangolins and the new human coronavirus. The hope of this finding is that humans, frightened of … [Read more...]
Youth delegates from across the world pledge to protect wildlife
The World Youth Wildlife Summit brought together 225 youth delegates, adult chaperones (educators and community leaders), conservation experts and keynote speakers from the 21st – 24th September, to equip the youth to become Ambassadors for Conservation and influencers to reduce wildlife crime. The impact of wildlife crime was highlighted during the Opening Ceremony when … [Read more...]
Help take care of nature’s gifts this Earth Day
Earth Day is a global event each year, and we believe that more than 1 billion people in 192 countries now take part in what is the largest civic-focused day of action in the world. Nature’s gifts to our planet are the millions of species that we know and love, and many more that remain to be discovered. Unfortunately, human beings have irrevocably upset the balance of … [Read more...]
