| Campaigns |
| EAZA Save the Rhinos Campaign |
Over 2005-2006 we ran the EAZA Save the Rhinos campaign. During the course of this year, we managed to raise our pledged sum of £25,000, which will be a vital contribution towards rhino conservation in the wild. Rhinos have been on Earth for millions of years but today they face crisis. Just 30 years ago the total world rhino population numbered around 70,000; today there are thought to be as little as 18,000 left. Of the five species of rhino, four are critically endangered and one is conservation dependant. The main threats this species face in the wild are hunting for their horns to be made into Traditional Chinese Medicine or into traditional Yemeni dagger handles. In addition, rhinos are at risk from habitat loss as their homes are being destroyed, paving the way for human homes, fields for agriculture, to provide trees for logging, wood burning and for charcoal.Action for the Wilds £25,000 contribution will go towards two projects: The Hluhluwe EAZA rhino security equipment funding and a Rhino horn fingerprinting project. The Hluhluwe EAZA rhino security equipment project is based in South Africa. The money donated by Action for the Wild will be used to buy equipment for anti-poaching teams, such as rifle safes and camping equipment. This will enable field ranger patrols to camp out at high-risk times of the day, to increase the security of the black and white rhinos that inhabit the game reserve and thus reduce poaching within the area. The Rhino horn-fingerprinting project will use donated money to investigate forensic techniques to identify the species and source location of rhino horns recovered in busts. This information will be put onto a database to develop a forensic test to predict the source of illegal horns and identify the illegal trade routes. This information will be essential in fighting the illegal trade in rhino horn. |
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No. 1105621 Trustees A C Downing, S D Knuckey, L J Spurgeon, P R Johnson