Thompsons Africa recently raised their hands to partner with Wildlands in support of their work around rhino conservation. On the 11th of May Thompsons hosted a Pre-Indaba cocktail event for all their partners, clients and some of their staff. The event, at Circus Circus on the beach front, was well attended and Rhino themed, in line with their “rhino” focused stand at Indaba, one of the largest tourism marketing events in Africa, which ran from the 12-15 May.
“The travel industry and wildlife groups are reliant on each other for survival. The “Big 5” are a massive selling point for tourism operators, as the animals are ultimately what attract visitors from all over the world,” mentioned Dr Andrew Venter as he highlighted the very real link between Wildlands and Thompsons.
Venter presented a moving speech and audio visual depicting the plight of our rhino populations. An auction followed thereafter and saw the auctioning of a SHARKS Rugby Ball (signed by the team) and 3 paintings by top artists, Ian van Zyl, Maureen Edgecombe and Steve Mandy. Attendees also submitted pledges and collectively the auction and pledges raised around R30 000 at the event.
Wildlands are focusing these funds on 2 of their projects namely, Project Rhino Tracker & Project Rhino Aerial Support. Project Rhino Tracker involves GSM based monitoring and tracking of rhino populations, which allows for effective behaviour based management. The Tracker project is complemented by aerial support, which involves light aircraft and helicopters that patrol fence lines and reserve land, and allows for a rapid response to poaching threats.
Wildlands call organisations & individuals such as Thompsons “Rhino Ambassadors.” A Rhino Ambassador is someone that invests in Wildlands’ Rhino Conservation efforts and therefore contributes directly to stemming the rhino onslaught. This Campaign aims to secure an annual donation per annum commitment from Businesses and private individuals for rhino conservation, and in return for their support, each Ambassador is invited (cost free) to participate in a series of events and functions, aimed at profiling their commitment, nurturing their understanding and progressively growing a network of Ambassadors. For more information around the Wildlands Projects email kevinm@localhost/import-data-post, if you would like to become a Wildlands’ Rhino Ambassador email laurenl@localhost/import-data-post .
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)