Support rhino conservation and sponsor my participation in the 75 km Giants MTB Challenge

Rhino poaching in South Africa is at its worst ever and there does not appear to be an end in sight. Many organisations are working tirelessly and diligently to put an end to the needless slaughter of these magnificent animals.

One organisation who is involved in rhino conservation is Wildlands Conservation Trust. Project Rhino KZN is focused mainly on improving monitoring systems and incident response, that will allow reserve managers to know exactly where the rhinos are at all times and, more importantly, will alarm them when rhino are in potential danger, thus curbing the response time of anti-poaching units. Recent advances in technology have produced a GPS unit that can be fitted into a rhino horn, thus allowing for real-time monitoring of rhino (the units are linked to a localised solar-powered GSM system that integrates with Global Positioning Satellites producing accurate information on the location of rhino at all times). This has the potential to be an incredibly valuable tool in combating poaching and preventing future losses. Wildlands is currently piloting this system in Somkhanda Game Reserve, with the ultimate aim of ensuring as many of the rhino in the province are under constant GPS surveillance. Once the system has been perfected the plan is to expand the system into other reserves in KwaZulu-Natal where poaching continues unabated.

Sponsorship

All of this requires a great deal of money, a lot of which comes from donations from the public. One source is from money raised at the annual Giants Castle MTB Challenge. This epic 75km one day mountain bike challenge takes place at Giants Castle in the Central Drakensberg Mountains. I will be participating in this event and hope to raise a minimum of R10 000 in sponsorship.

If you would like to sponsor me (any amount welcome), I have provided the banking details of Wildlands Conservation Trust below. PLEASE ensure that you use my name (David Graham) as the reference so Wildlands knows who is being sponsored. I will also welcome an email from you to davidneelygraham@gmail.com with details of the sponsorship.

Account Name              Wildlands Conservation Trust

Bank                              First National Bank

Account Number          62193487735

Branch Code                257355

Branch Name               Midlands Mall

VAT Number                4560143887

NB. Please specify “David Graham” as the reference

Please fax or email proof of payment to Heidi Mocke at +27 (0)33 343 6380 (Tel), +27 (0)33 343 1976 (Fax) or heidim@wildlands.co.za (Email)