Rhino Revolution
Who is Rhino Revolution?
Rhino Revolution is by design a small team of paid staff and committed volunteers. Our pro-bono trustees bring a wealth of experience and networks to help guide and govern. We are an effective impactful NGO with low overheads so that we ensure that all donations are used for our frontline rhino conservation and education work.
Rhino Revolution works with a wide range of stakeholders and partner organizations to deliver maximum benefits to the rhinos.
The mission of Rhino Revolution is to protect rhinos and other endangered species in the Greater Kruger region, especially those impacted by poaching - a goal founded on our expertise with the rehabilitation and release of rhino. In partnership with local and global community engagement, research and education initiatives, we take a holistic approach to inspire action, raise awareness and achieve real results for wildlife survival now - and for future generations. Core activities are dehorning and re-wilding rhino, community outreach and education.
Where is RR ocated?
Hoedspruit, Limpopo, South Africa
Rhino Revolution UK
Rhino Revolution Europe based in Germany (both independent NPO)
Our geographic focus is South Africa, home to the largest rhino population in the world.
What is RR doing in regards to rhinos?
Dehorning of rhinos One of the most effective ways to protect rhinos from poaching is to remove the horn under the supervision of a vet, making the animal a less attractive target for a poacher. Rhino Revolution has been at the forefront of organizing and supporting dehorning programmes in the Greater Kruger Area and as a result poaching has dropped to zero in some reserves. As far as we can tell, dehorning does not have any impact on the behavior or quality of life of the rhinos. Dehorning is hopefully “buying time” to save rhinos, until the demand from Asian markets and subsequent illegal trade can be halted. We see it as a short-term, necessary immediate measure that ensures the existence of the population in the fastest and most effective way. Therefore, dehorning is and stays currently our top priority. Rhino Revolution has successfully dehorned almost 300 rhinos in the last 2.5 years- and not one of these rhinos has been lost to poaching. That means countless dehorning operations will be necessary in the next few years, as the procedure has to be repeated every 18-24 months.
Community outreach & Education Rhino Revolution believes that a key way to stop poaching in the marginalized areas surrounding the Greater Kruger Area is by working alongside the local communities to address educational needs and to assist in sustainable poverty alleviation. Our aim is to educate and inspire the young people of the impoverished, local com- munities in the marginalized areas of the Greater Kruger area – they are the conser- vationists of tomorrow. RR delivers a number of community engagement programs designed to educate and inspire local communities on the importance of rhinos, and all wildlife, to the local economy. It’s a sad fact that many children in local communities have never been into the local game reserves or the Kruger National Park. RR runs programs to bring children into the reserves so that they can see the wonderful wildlife on their doorstep, so that in future they can be advocates for conservation and help to stop poaching. As well as day trips into Kruger, RR also delivers educational activities now in five local government schools. We make learning fun, with content about a wide range of en- vironmental subjects – working closely with the teachers and with the input of RR’s board member Vusi Tshabalaba, to ensure educational rigor. We also invite young people to attend rhino dehorning where possible, so they can see at first-hand conservation in action. This is an emotive and moving experience – and the young people become effective ambassadors and messengers within their communities.
Rhino Rehab and rewilding For many years Rhino Revolution ran its own rhino orphanage, caring for orphaned rhinos calves and preparing them for release back into the wild when old enough. We are proud of our successful track record, with the pioneering re-wilding of the first five orphans, nicknamed the “The Lucky Five” plus a further two white rhino subsequently. However rehabilitating individual rhino is a lengthy, resource heavy and costly process. In addition, despite the continuing security incursions, fewer calves are being found orphaned. This is partly because there are far fewer rhino anyway, plus we have successfully dehorned many rhino in the nearby reserves in Limpopo – and the remaining rhino in Kruger are in the south of the region, which is in Mpumalanga Province. We have therefore reviewed the situation carefully, and believe that rather than having a dedicated RR Orphanage, it is more strategic and effective to partner with other rehab and rewilding programmes. This improves the scale and reach of our activities and ensures that we can share the best practice that we built up over 7 years more widely.
Anti-poaching support Rhino Revolution provides direct support to a number of anti poaching measures. A great example is the K9 anti poaching dog unit on the Thornybush Nature reserve, which has been part funded by RR. We also run a very successful horseback patrol unit, with the riders being RR staff and volunteers. We are also supporting the deployment of new technology, for example smart cameras that can detect suspicious activity and alert the security teams.
Why has RR partnered up with CRS?
We like the idea that like-minded organizations come together and explore this „new territory“ together and we can exchange ideas and network at the same time. We hope that we can contribute to crs being successful and that we will all become strong partners on our way together and so generate maximum success for our conservation projects.
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