Here's a quick update from us.

The New Year Yields a New Life for Seha and His Female Companions!

Dear Donors,

As the new year dawns we can truly say: IT’S A NEW YEAR, IT’S A NEW LIFE.

It’s a new life for Seha, our wounded rhino hero.

The purchase is complete of two beautiful female rhinos for Seha. He will meet them soon!

We met them in the flesh, and virtually when they were sedated last week, and transported to the new home they will share with Seha when he arrives in January. They are perfect.

Members from the three organizations involved: Saving the Survivors, Marataba Conservation Camp, and Baby Rhino Rescue met and working together in a spirit of dedicated passion!

The intention was to track, sedate, dehorn and move the ladies.

But nothing in Africa goes quite according to plan.

We had the ladies sedated, the sky turned black, and a massive downpour drowned that option out!

With everyone soaked and freezing, and working in the downpour, the ladies were carefully guided into a crate and taken to their new home and released, horns still intact.

Why do they have to be dehorned?

Well, Seha is still very injured, and the gap in his skull cannot be penetrated by anything. A rhino with a horn constitutes real danger for our rhino hero.

Our ladies exited the crate backwards, stepped out into thick mud, and vanished into the trees. They have explored their new home, all 2,000 hectares of it, and have now begun to settle down.

“We used to keep 50 rhino there,” Andre Uys, the MD and wildlife vet of Marataba tells us. “It’s a rhino heaven.” And it is, this area stretches from horizon to horizon!

What about Seha?

In mid-January we will be transporting him to Marataba and releasing him into the bush.

What a moment it will be … when he smells home … and vanishes into the trees after the ladies!

36 Poachings in

24 Hours

Unfortunately, there is bad news. We don’t like to alarm our donors, but we also do want to keep you informed.

December is typically a bad month for poaching. This year it reached a terrible new height. 36 rhinos were poached in a period of 24 hours. The wildlife vets in the country called it the worst time in their professional lives.

It draws attention to a time of crisis and what needs to be done.

As numbers in the Kruger National Park continue to drop, and the species faces potential local extinction in as soon as three years, the private rhino owners are now facing the onslaught.

Up until recently, poaching in private reserves made up 1% of the overall poaching stats. This jumped to 30% in the last few months. At BRR we take this seriously. Instead of feeling defeated, we have sharpened our intention to save a species that is being driven closer to the brink.

We’re not ending on bad news. There is lots more good news.

2021 was BRR’s Best Year Ever!

During 2021:

BRR paid for the full salary, board, food and all expenses of 14 guards at the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary — thanks to the Isackson family!

BRR paid for all the anti-poaching in the biggest private reserve in the country — which we cannot name it for safety reasons.

BRR funded ten license recognition cameras that are a game changer for the biggest private reserve — with thanks to Matt Grossman.

BRR bought two rhino “heifers” for Seha. Baby Rhino Rescue co-owns these rhinos with Saving the Survivors.

BRR funded the refurbishment of a boma for the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary.

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The BRR Vision:

During the year:

• Working together with international teams, we will continue to focus on the private rhino owners and bring protection where it is most needed.

• We go into the new year with funds in place to launch our camera project — and we aim to have close to 2,000 rhinos under surveillance and therefor much safer by the end of 2022.

• Our influence expanded exponentially in 2021. We are poised for a truly powerful 2022.

None of this is possible without you. You are our partners and we will keep you involved and informed as things develop.

Thank you for believing in this cause.

We cannot let an iconic creature, on earth for 55 million years, be taken from us! This sentient creature is a climate warrior and does so much work for planet Earth.

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