World Rhino Day 2017

Conservation is one of Thanda’s core passions. Amidst other projects, Thanda is one of the founding members of the Project Rhino KZN which is motivated by the dream of white and black rhino species thriving in KZN and beyond – “forever free, forever secure from poaching, well-managed and protected”.

The name rhinoceros means ‘nose horn’, from Greek – “rhino” meaning nose, and “ceros” meaning horn. The white rhino is the second largest land animal, only after the elephant.

Southern white rhinos were thought to be extinct, but in 1895 a small pocket of less than 100 individuals were discovered in KZN. The white rhino went from the brink of extinction 100 years ago, to more than 20 000 today. This success story should belong to all of our endangered animals, and is true testament to the hard work the region puts into conservation.

Thanda also partners with the WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project which aims to increase the numbers and growth rate of the critically endangered black rhino; where private reserves become custodians of state-owned black rhino. Black rhino are identifiable by a “hooked lip”, and are the smaller of our two African species. They are marked as critically endangered, meaning that they are a species facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

Thanda is proud to have the responsibility to safeguard one of South Africa’s most valuable assets. We will be hosting a rhino themed fundraiser this evening, with wildlife talks and auctions, to aid our conservation projects. Funds raised will go towards buying camera traps and monitoring equipment. Please let us know if you would like to get involved in operation “save our rhino” (research@thanda.co.za).

www.thanda.com