9/2/2023 0 Comments Rave fpr rhino free download![]() ![]() To reduce the stress, Valentine was blindfolded and given earplugs. Of course, what struck me most was the efficiency of the dehorning procedure, Ryan working away as if he was carving a work of art with precise and meticulous care. “He’s moving in the direction of the tower.”Īfter hot coffees, scones and cream supplied by the Rave Rhino team, we found ourselves back in the chase, the Rave Rhino team and Ryan working together to track and dart Valentine: “They’re heading towards the runway but moving slowly. Everyone flows together like an orchestra, with a frequent and succinct chorus of commands back and forth over the radio: What was most impressive during this experience was the teamwork. Think of it like clipping your fingernails.”įollowing each dehorning at Tala, a DNA sample of the horn is entered into the RhODUS (Rhino DNA Indexing System) system and database before being carefully transported to a secure and undisclosed location.Īs we disembarked to locate and dart Valentine – visitors in the main vehicle, Rave Rhino members spread across individual vehicles – the energy was palpable. It may seem quite rudimentary, but the most efficient method to remove the horn is by way of a chainsaw and grinder. “The most efficient method to conduct the procedure is darting the rhino with etorphine which is ten times stronger than morphine. “Each rhino must have their horns removed to deter poachers every 19 months,” Ryan explained. At only two and a half years old, Valentine (born on Valentine’s Day 2020) currently weighs a whopping 950 kilograms, roaming the Reserve with his little sister (still to be named) and mother, Madlebe. The same can be said for the rest of the team, consisting of three permanent members, Tala rangers, general volunteers, and three free-running Belgian Malinois canines: Connor, Meisiekind and Shadow.įollowing a briefing by Ryan van Deventer, a veterinarian working closely with Rave Rhino, we embarked on our ‘mission’ to track, dart and dehorn a young male bull. “It’s high risk and not an easy job, but everything we do, we do to the fullest of our capability.” Aside from being Lawrence’s wife, she has continued to play an integral part in the daily operation of Rave Rhino. “As an NPO, we rely heavily on donations and funds we receive from individuals, who are united to observe the dehorning process,” Kerry explains. “That’s what prompted me to approach management to ask them if they needed assistance with security which soon led to the inception of Rave Rhino,” he explains.įormed with three additional directors – Lee John Versfeld, Wayne Axford, and Warren Julie – who have extensive police and military expertise, Rave Rhino consists of an anti-poaching unit based at Tala that functions 24 hours a day. His connection to Tala first began when he heard of the senseless killing of two female white rhinos and a third, which was being dehorned and needed immediate medical assistance. Perhaps, as I can only imagine, it’s a mix of all three. Whether doing so fulfils his sense of purpose in the world, provides an opportunity to put his skills to use, or is simply because it’s the right thing to do, it’s hard to pinpoint one reason why he does it. “If you had told me that I would be living on a reserve, working to stop the extinction of a species, I’d never have believed you,” Lawrence says. Their consistent efforts have revived the white rhino population within the Reserve from four to 11. To date, he and his team have helped local law enforcement deter countless attacks by providing an ongoing strategy to help combat poaching and conduct regular dehorning and microchipping procedures. However, in August 2014, he was bounding across the acacia plains of Tala Collection Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal hot on the trail of armed rhino poachers. ![]() A former security officer, he’d never really given much thought to the rhino poaching crisis in South Africa. ![]() ![]() Eight years ago, Lawrence Reed was living a regular family life with his wife, Kerry, and two daughters in the quiet suburb of Yellowwood Park in Durban. ![]()
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