Game ranger Daniel Fenton from Bergvliet has completed his goal of walking 922km for rhinos (“Bergvliet game ranger on a mission to save rhino”, Bulletin March 24).
Daniel, 23, started his walk in Durban and addressed pupils at the International School of SA in Mahikeng on the dangers of rhino poaching before crossing the border into Botswana.
Daniel says his Hope for Horns campaign carries a strong message to the South African government to improve its protection mandate for rhinos. “Botswana’s safety and security is so much better than ours. The rhino is better off there, where they are being well looked after and where poaching is virtually non-existent,” he says.
Daniel is a game ranger at Ngala Private game lodge and together with his employer, safari group &Beyond, he is raising awareness and funds to get another 100 rhinos relocated to Botswana.
Rhinos Without Borders, in partnership with Great Plains Conservation, plans to move 100 more rhinos to the comparative safety of Botswana as and when the money becomes available.
The R100 000 (and counting) that Daniel raised during the walk will go towards the next phase of the relocation process.
The organisation spends R720 000 on each rhino it relocates and the first group was moved early in 2015 to undisclosed locations in Botswana.
Daniel’s 34-day trek traced the exact path taken by the truck that relocated six rhinos in 2012. The highlight of his walk was when school children and strangers stopped him to find out what he was doing and he would to tell them about rhinos. He gave awareness-raising talks and presentations to schools and companies along the way.
“I had to dodge and scamper out of the way of tankers at times. But it’s awesome that I’ve walked the length and breadth of South Africa,” he says.
To donate visit www.gofundme.com/ hopeforhorns.