In Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, the Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit (BHAPU) – a small but fiercely dedicated anti-poaching unit – faces a mammoth task. The team is responsible for protecting 3,500 elephants in the area from violent ivory poachers. BHAPU cannot do this without a patrol vehicle, and theirs has reached the end of its life.
The team can expect no help from the authorities because the economy is in terrible trouble and there is simply no money. The BHAPU team kept their old vehicle going as long as they could, but now it is beyond repair; its engine, suspension and steering have all succumbed to a long lifetime of crashing through the African bush in pursuit of animal killers.
A vehicle is absolutely critical for their patrols. BHAPU has turned to ASI supporters, pleading to help buy a new one because each day they are unable to patrol is another day that elephants face brutal slaughter by poachers.
The Bumi Hills Anti-Poaching Unit must fight, every single day, to save the 3,500 elephants in their care. Your donation right now will help save the lives of countless wild animals!
We hope to raise $20,000 (£15,000) towards a new patrol vehicle – critical in the fight against the Chinese-driven wildlife trade. Please help us raise this critical funding!
So often in our work we face the ugly truth that much of the killing is driven by Chinese criminal syndicates seeking ivory. In Zimbabwe they are well on their way to destroying Zimbabwe’s elephant population. It is estimated that 75% of the region’s elephants have fallen victims to poaching in the last 15 years. If the scourge continues at this rate, the entire population could be wiped out within the next five years.
Elephant receiving medical treatment
In partnership with Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, BHAPU is the region’s best defense against poachers. The team has done such good work that poaching in its area is under control, for the moment, but BHAPU MUST have a vehicle to continue conducting vital patrols in the conservancy’s huge expanse of 580 square miles (1,500 square kilometers).
With each passing day, poachers become smarter, stealthier and deadlier – not only to the animals but to our teams. Poachers do not hesitate to kill those protecting elephants and the BHAPU team put their lives on the line trying to keep poachers at bay. Yet regular patrols are critical and that’s where the use of the patrol vehicle comes in. Our team can cover much more ground, much more quickly and also find the thousands of snares set by poachers more easily.
Poachers are prowling for vulnerable wildlife as you read these words! We cannot delay getting a patrol vehicle because every hour counts in the fight to save elephants!
Please, donate as generously as you can today so that we can help provide the dedicated BHAPU team with a critically needed patrol vehicle. Delay is not an option if we’re to protect vulnerable species from callous wildlife criminals – and we MUST!