Assault, defeating the ends of justice, fraud, corruption, malicious injury to property, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition…we know the stats, we know the names of the alleged culprits, we know the charges and we know their provisional fate.
Isn’t it quite ironic that the assumed masterminds of a rhino poaching syndicate took to the stand yesterday? Rhino Day, of all days. Needless to say I felt a bit let down to hear they’d been granted bail. However, nothing could stop me feeling fully inspired and optimistic after spending a few hours with Rhino Africa, Wildllife ACT and a few other supporters who had marched down to parliament in Cape Town to raise awareness of the recent surge in rhino poaching.
The good news is that there were a whole lot of enthusiastic people scattered around Louis Botha’s rather regal statue who were chanting anti-rhino-poaching slogans and clutching onto humorous placards, “Poached egg is yummy, poached rhino is tasteless”. The good news is that Facebook had a constant stream of rhino posts from a number of relevant organizations and interested parties. Twitter was all aflutter with #rhinoday trends and retweets. The good news is that e-news, News24, The Cape Times, Cape Talk and KFM were all there to capture it. The good news, South Africa, is that yesterday, we all pulled together – again. We’re so damn good at this. It makes me so proud.
So, however frustrating it is that Mnr Dawie Groenewald and his team of immoral cronies have been released on bail, we know that, despite the sometimes flawed justice system, we have each other to fall back on. It is obvious from yesterday that there are plenty of courageous, ambitious and passionate individuals out there who are prepared to fight for conservation, fight for justice and secure the fate of Africa’s wildlife in the years to come.
Let’s continue supporting the people who are hell-bent on combating this atrocious rhino poaching saga! Good on you all!
1. WWF has a new, dedicated rhino campaign to tackle the alarming increase of poaching of wild Rhinos. WWF co-founded TRAFFIC – the global organisation that works specifically to prevent the illegal trade of such things as Rhino parts. To make a donation visit their website.
2. Call the Rhino Poaching Hotline: 082 404 2128 of the Endangered Wildlife Trust. To donate click here.
3. The Wildlife Society of South Africa proposes to raise funds and awareness to help curb the current illegal rhino hunting. Make a donation by SMSing “Rhino” to 40706.
4. If you want to be a part of real conservation work, Wildlife ACT is looking for volunteers in Natal. You can apply to be a volunteer by clicking here.
5. Donate to Rhino Africa’s Challenge4aCause campaign click here.
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