Last month I had the privilege of attending the Mazda Wildlife Fund’s Sunset Serenade in the Kruger National Park. The purpose of the event is to raise funds and awareness around anti-rhino poaching.
It really is one of the most spectacular events I have been lucky enough to attend, twice! Each evening you are driven out to a secret, remote location in the middle of the bush, with picnic basket in hand to enjoy a sunset serenade. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and we were lucky enough to have hippos in the river in the background on two out of the three nights. I think for us Capetonians it’s always extra special being in the bush as it’s generally not a quick getaway spot as with our friends up north.
This year Mazda generously donated a new Mazda BT-50 bakkie for Section 23, which was received by the Honorary Rangers. Since I was last at the Sunset Serenade, 2 years ago in 2011, the situation has gotten worse. In fact on this trip we did not see 1 rhino whereas 2 years ago we saw a couple. The rangers are fighting an insurgency war and are losing. The poachers are coming across the Mozambiquan border, armed and determined to get rhino horn at any cost. And what makes it worse is that they are offered protection on the other side of the border making it desperately hard for the rangers to persecute and catch them. The Kruger rangers are also not trained for combat therefore it’s a very dangerous situation for them to find themselves in. They have recently started training dogs to help with the tracking and for protection but still have a long way to go.
A message from the rangers: THINK BIG. START SMALL. ACT NOW.
Otherwise I fear that the only place my children and their children will ever see a rhino is either in a book or in captivity. Not a pretty picture.
Here is a glimpse into the delight that is the Mazda Wildlife Fund Sunset Serenade, in this case a picture really does say a 1000 words.
Images: Brett Lefrere {with a couple of mine mixed in there}
