Sickeningly, over the holidays, poaching skyrockets in Africa – as Asians “go shopping” in Africa for sought-after rhino horn and other animal parts. These are especially popular as gifts and shows of excess during Christmas and the Chinese New Year. We are ramping up our efforts to help thwart poachers in their tracks.
Did you know that THIS is the MOST DANGEROUS time of year for wild animals?
Credit: Brent Stirton
Is this the SICKEST “holiday shopping” you’ve ever heard of?
Asian markets “SHOP” for rhino horn and other animal parts in Africa as Christmas and the lunar new year approaches!
Credit: V.L Williams
Please, help us prepare our anti-poaching teams for the onslaught!
Every year, at least 20,000 African elephants are poached for their tusks. This holiday season, we are working harder than ever to ensure our anti-poaching teams are equipped and ready to intercept poachers before disaster strikes:
- Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit (BHAPU) in Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, which protects the lake elephants and other vulnerable wildlife in this poaching hotspot.
- Matetsi Anti-Poaching Unit (MAPU), which makes 95% of its arrests along the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, along with its expertly trained K9 team.
- Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary (CFW) in South Africa, which runs a highly skilled anti-poaching team and K9 unit that protects rhinos and other wildlife in Mpumalanga. Nearly 10,000 rhinos have been poached in Africa over the past decade.
- Addo Elephant National Park (AENP) anti-poaching team, which patrols the vast 293,000 hectares of the AENP in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.
Wildlife criminals don’t take the holidays off – and neither do we!
Credit: ASI/Taryn Slabbert
You can rest easy this holiday season knowing that we are putting your donations to immediate use…
…bolstering our anti-poaching teams across multiple projects in Africa…
Credit:Carl De Souza/AFP
…preparing to thwart poachers in their tracks…
….and KEEPING ANIMALS SAFE FROM CRIMINALS!
Together with our partners, we are making great progress in our anti-poaching work.
BHAPU has not lost a single elephant to poaching in the last seven years…
Credit: Steve Edwards/Caters News
MAPU has stamped out poaching in the entire Matetsi Private Game Reserve since 2021 – once a wasteland of butchered carcasses…
Care for Wild’s anti-poaching unit includes ex-military personnel using the most advanced surveillance equipment available today…
The AENP anti-poaching unit uses drones to home in on criminals within the park’s borders, apprehend them, and ensure they face the full might of the law. Recently, we helped them fit advanced AI-tracking devices to elephants in a particularly vulnerable part of the reserve…
Credit: ASI/Zara King
BUT!
None of these teams would be able to continue their LIFE-PRESERVING work for wildlife without your support.
Your support throughout 2023 has helped enable these teams to perform their crucial role in protecting wild animals – but they cannot continue during this critical holiday period and into 2024 without your support.
Our teams need fuel for their patrol vehicles and boats, supplies for their K9 units, including cooling jackets for summer, and more AI-enabled tracking devices for elephants and other animals vulnerable to criminals. These teams can only be as strong as their equipment.
Credit: ASI
This season, we need to keep our feet on the ground, with our anti-poaching teams doing everything in their power to protect animals 24/7. You have the power right now to help ensure this!
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