Safaris

Rhino Ranger Support Scheme AND Unique Ear Notching Trip, mid-late August 2023

ATTENTION ALL WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ENTHUSIASTS – THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE RIPPER.

Good evening, we are delighted to be bringing you our first ever, action-packed, combined rhino ranger experience for three days, together with four days of ear notching. What a combination, worth countless thousands. Please read the summaries below, chew on it, and then contact me to reserve your spot, strictly limited spaces available. Hear from you soon, Nicholas.

Rhino Ranger Support Scheme (RRSS); 12–14 August

Our most popular trip has always been the Rhino Ranger Support Scheme, departing Perth in August. Come along, it’s an amazing three days in the field with Bryce and his anti poaching team in Save Valley Conservancy. We pump about $440,000 per year into this project and this is one of the ways we can continue to sustain our resources.

There’ll be a bit of EVERYTHING for you! Game viewing, meeting the rangers, rhino tracking, local clinic visit, visiting the new all female boundary guards, dog squad demonstration, visiting the $70,000 ranger base improvements courtesy of the Australian Embassy in Harare and ourselves, interesting discussions, and whatever else happens at the time. You’ll be at the coalface of rhino conservation.

But hurry, there are really only 6 spots available.

These three adventurous days are then followed by four more of ear notching activities. Fees charged by other wildlife organisations are in excess of $2,000 per day!

Unique Ear Notching Trip; 15-19 August

You’d have read that we fund the annual ear notching/calf naming in August. This is all explained in the article below by Heather Atwell and Lynn Johnson, based on their personal experiences. Why not sponsor a rhino name for $2,500, help the project grow, and have the pleasure of following your rhino’s growth and progress in the years to come? 55 members have done this before. We have eight names still available so contact me quickly please.
And, we have six places available where you can spend four days in the field with the vet team, and see all this happening in real time. We depart on 10 August, have seven nights in Save Valley Conservancy, a night at the Bronte on the way there and back, and then home or go somewhere else. This wonderful experience is a mere $8,575, all inclusive. Express your interest now, please! Please read on for more information on this adventure.

Protecting rhinos is difficult and the starting point is to know just which individual you are actually looking at.
For many years now, the SAVE African Rhino Foundation, together with our members and supporters ,have covered ear notching operations in several locations in Zimbabwe. So, just what’s in a notch?
Ear notching, where a one-off pattern of notches is cut out of a rhino’s ear, means that each individual rhino can be tracked and monitored for its lifetime, with all sightings and locations recorded.
Sightings can be fleeting, with ears spotted over the top of dense vegetation, and often from a distance. Rangers must be ready with their cameras to photograph the notched ears, as there is no room for uncertainty when tracking rhinos. Regular sightings are required to comply with population audit conditions, and if the time between sighting an individual rhino is a little too long, the security team make finding the elusive rhino a priority, starting in the locations the rhino has historically been sighted.

This system is essential to accurately record the population and verify the safety of the rhinos.

But ear notching goes beyond security, it enables the health of the rhino to be monitored and veterinary care to be deployed quickly when needed. It is also used to ensure that the genetic diversity of key rhino populations is maintained by monitoring rhino interactions, together with the removed ear notch providing a sample for the ever-growing rhino DNA database.
Ensuring the genetic diversity of Zimbabwe’s rhino population is of growing importance. In the last 12 months Zimbabwe reached a wonderful milestone, with the country’s rhino population numbering more than 1,000 for the first time in 30 years.
Now the overall population numbers are much brighter, key is to ensure genetic diversity remains strong. In the future, individual rhinos will need to be relocated between populations within the country. Ear-notching is a key part of the growing strategy to maintain a genetically strong rhino population.

All this explains why the ear-notch is top notch in securing a long-term, positive future for rhinos in Zimbabwe and beyond. Which is why SARF needs your help for the 2023 rhino ops in SVC. There are at least 17 young candidates, in the 18-30 months age bracket, who are ready for ear-notching.

And, while the pandemic has meant that SARF hasn’t had the opportunity to fly donors to Zimbabwe to be a part of this rare privilege for the past two years, we are very excited that this year there are just a few opportunities to be offered for notching donors to be present and observe this critical activity taking place.

The experience of observing “rhino ops” first hand is never forgotten. Once the immobilising dart has taken effect and the rhino goes down, the veterinary team moves in, the rhino is blindfolded, and his ears are blocked to reduce distress as much as possible while they work quickly to get the job done. The team’s work is over in a matter of minutes, the immobilising reversal drug injected and the rhino watched from a distance until the vets are happy it has fully recovered from the operation.

SARF is very proud to be play a small part in this critical work, which is why we this year we are again putting out the call to our supporters to help with the 2023 rhino ops.

Join Ross and Jacky, and the many other SARF donors who have rhinos named after them roaming the magnificent parks and conservancies of Zimbabwe. This is a great way of making your rhino conservation commitment truly personal.

Contact Nicholas ASAP to sponsor your rhino’s ear notching, chose a name and express your interest in being on the ground to see the whole procedure taking place!

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES;
1. Sponsor a rhino’s name for a tax deductible $2,500.
2. Attend four days of expert rhino management and game viewing, and maybe christen your own rhino, plus three days with the award winning ranger unit, all for just $8,575

NB This trip is available to guests of all ages and it’s not necessary to be donating a rhino name in order to attend.

Nicholas Duncan OAM

President

P +61 8 9444 6550 | M +61 417 937 655 | F +61 8 9444 6550

A 229 Oxford Street, Leederville, Western Australia 6007

nicholas@savefoundation.org.au | www.savefoundation.org.au

Highlights of Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia Safari

18 DAYS, 22 SEPTEMBER – 9 OCTOBER 2023

Hello again, and I hope that 2023 has started off well for you. I’m sending this to the 11 of you who have booked to come on our special safari later in the year. Attached is your booking form with details of payments to be made, please, including your name with your transfer. If you wish for another method of payment then please email me. Thanks and bye for now, Nicholas.

Join the SAVE African Rhino Foundation tour for 12 – 16 people, fully escorted, and enjoy the fabulous times that our recent groups experienced!
Here are some photos taken during the previous September trip.

We fly into Victoria Falls, overnight there, and drive straight to THE HIDE (www.thehide.com) in Hwange National Park, winner in 18 of the last 26 years for “Lodge of the Year”, for 3 nights. Enjoy the luxury and tranquillity of this magnificent camp, with its own hidden waterhole amongst the thirsty elephants!

We may meet up with, and be briefed by, local conservationists who are beneficiaries of our funding. This is always a special time for our groups, as we experience the “behind the scenes” stories.

VICTORIA FALLS is quite rightly one of the 7 wonders of the world. Enjoy 2 nights at the fabulous Victoria Falls Hotel (www.victoriafallshotel.com), plus all the optional adventure extra activities – canoeing, walking and helicopter flight.

CHOBE NATIONAL PARK is home to massive herds of buffalos, elephants, hippos and their predators, lions … not to mention the plentiful birds. You have 2 days with boat cruises and game drives. (www.chobemarinalodge.com)

Then OKAVANGO DELTA is just simply magical … The Jewel of Africa! Enjoy 3 days of fantastic game viewing from XAKANAXA CAMP (https://desertdelta.com/camps/camp-xakanaxa/). This is the most luxurious of our stops and great for big cats.

OPTIONAL EXTRA

And then it’s on to Namibia! A charter flight from Maun will take us to NAMUTONI,, the eastern gateway to ETOSHA. Here we stay at a variety of Namibia Wildlife Resorts lodges, www.etoshanationalpark.org You have three nights here, culminating in OKAKEUJO, world famous for its floodlit waterhole with lots of rhinos and everything at night.

When you book on this fabulous holiday, SAVE African Rhino Foundation will receive a donation of $2,500 and you could enjoy the tax benefits.

The trip includes all meals (B & B in Victoria Falls), most drinks, return flights and private charters, all accommodation (twin share), expert local guides, an experienced tour leader and National Parks fees.

For the main part of your safari, up to the end of Xakanaxa, your total investment is only A$14,935*, all inclusive, ex Perth and $200 more from the east. For your Etosha add on it’s an extra $2,975.

* Subject to a levy due to fluctuation of the Australian dollar.

Whatsapp call Nicholas on 08 9444 6550 or 0417 937 655, I’m 8 hours behind Perth time, or email your expression of interest – nicholas@savefoundation.org.au