Renostermaan… Ek was die eerste keer uitgenooi na ‘n Renostermaan (Vrouemaand, 2018), waar ek niemand geken het nie. Ons was ‘n klomp vroumense saam in die bos, na ‘n naweek is ons almal vriende daar weg! Ek kom as ‘n reel baie in die veld. Eks mal oor diere en buitelug, het nog altyd bosvakansies verkies. Die grootste verassing vir my was dat ek so baie oor die veld en natuur geleer het by Renostermaan! (Ek was nou al op … Read More
“When I first went on a “Renostermaan”, I was shocked at the rhino poaching statistics that we as the public was not aware off. We only hear some of the news and mostly it’s the bad news. But being part of Rhino Connect, we get to see all the good that forms when Tersia Jooste and her team gets involved. When you get to be on all these different farms, you learn about the rhino farmer’s battle to take care … Read More
Patrolling in Africa, especially South Africa and the Limpopo Bushveld can be magical, but always has unexpected surprises, like one night, just around midnight when no one knew where to run. During full moon weekends, we as normal public members support private rhino owners in attending to their farms, helping with patrols, securing fence lines and monitoring their rhino. We have in faith for the survival of the species, renamed poachers moon to a more positive “rhino moon” or in … Read More
This week we are kicking it off with an awesome sighting we have had in the last few weeks, involving the rhinos. This one was during our afternoon drive. We’d checked for signal and it looks like the rhinos are all together or at least very close to each other. We get to the area to find old straight horn and her group waiting patiently. As we let them greet the vehicle and interact with each other as well as … Read More
I once had a very angry, but mostly very sad rhino owner phoning me. A rhino calf has been butchered by poachers, but survived the ordeal. The calf was being taken care of by his owners and very well experienced vets. This rhino owner asked me, “What do you know of what we must go through, we don’t sleep at night. These rhino’s are our biggest passion, but our biggest heartsore and headache to carry. Have you ever been so … Read More
Sitting around a campfire, getting ready for a midnight patrol, a young boy of about 11 years asked me: “What does Shinkwe mean?” To get to my answer I must first explain how I and this young boy mutually agreed about the meaning. Around January 2016 a cow on this specific project of “Renostermaan” (Rhino Moon) was shot by poachers, for the second time, and she again survived, but was severely wounded. Her owner and ground crew hectically tried to find … Read More
As some of you know, our area has been plagued with numerous poaching undertakings these past few months. In some cases these poachers have been successful and in others we have succeeded in interrupting their plans. With every event we have been able to gather much needed information by working together with the community and other parties that share the same passion for conservation. This great teamwork has even led to some poachers being apprehended, even before they could reach … Read More