We are thrilled to share our Board Member, Andrea Crosta's recent conversation with the EarthTalk audience (similar to TedTalks)
Andrea and his team work on the intelligence side of anti-poaching. It's not only vital but effective. They recently brought down a long time kingpin and his syndicate which hit the news stands in Asia and here in the US which we shared earlier last week. For more about our friend and advisory board member, Andrea Crosta - click on the link below!
Rhino de-horning
Successful 2nd Raise for Over and Above Africa and Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage!
This was a particularly heinous act where 8 heavily armed men attacked the staff and volunteers at Thula Thula Rhino Orphanage in the Kwa-Zulu-Natel region, South Africa. They tied up and beat the staff and raped a female volunteer before killing two of the rhino babies who were soon to be released back into the wild after a successful rehabilitation by Thula Thula. Just to poach their horns. The double tragedy was that these two rhino babies had been victims of a poaching incident where their mothers were killed by poachers. Rhino babies and elephant calves NEED their mothers longer than most animal offspring.
We have friends in Africa who have reported back to us that an international intelligence unit has been called in to find these criminals and bring them to justice. In the mean time, we are raising funds for the medical costs, vet's bills, counseling that will be needed and most importantly, stronger security and safety measures.
Here's the link to our Go Fund Me campaign please share with your friends and families as the more we raise, the faster their recovery needs will be met.
Photo by kind permission of Ed Gatland
This is an epic post, but SO worth the read and really underscores why we are SO proud to be partnered with @Nambiti Private Game Reserve!
Press Release: Today saw a historical moment unfold for two community game reserves in KwaZulu-Natal, as the Somkhanda Community Game Reserve welcomed the last 2 animals of a herd of 13 elephants. The elephants were donated by Nambiti Private Game Reserve, another KZN community owned game reserve, and this is the first time that 2 rural communities have worked together to extend elephant range.
Somkhanda Community Game Reserve, owned by the Emvokweni Community Trust (ECT) and co-managed with the Wildlands Conservation Trust was established in 2005 and formerly declared a protected area in 2011.
Wildlands and the ECT worked with Elephant, Rhinos and People (ERP) over the past year to identify a suitable herd for Somkhanda. Their support has been phenomenal. ERP, supported by Groupelephant.com, actively identify elephant herds that are under threat due to population pressures and find them new homes.......
As Matt prepares for his 2000 mile bike ride along the California coastline from Canada to Mexico, pulling a life-sized rhino behind him - we are lining up sponsors to back him. XTreme Video just joined the list of growing sponsors lining up to support Matt's epic journey.
It's all to raise funds and bring awareness to the tragic plight of the world's rhinos right now. Without our stepping in to act, they'll be gone in less than 9 years.
We'll be bringing you live updates from Matt's journey along the way in our member section so be sure to sign up today!
For more information about how you can sponsor Matt, please contact Jennifer@OverAndAboveAfrica.com.
We're really excited to share that we delivered the boots to the rangers after our successful fundraiser all because you cared! We're working on an edited piece to bring to you of the whole day, but for now - to experience how happy a day it was for the rangers to receive the boots, just click on the boots below for our short Facebook live video!
Become a member, join our tribe - to follow this story and others like it as we start a movement to end poaching in Africa!
Here are some of the rangers modeling their boots!
We are delighted to share that we just reached our goal of raising $5,000 to give new boots, night vision binoculars and flak jackets to the rangers at Nambiti (Kwa-Zulu-Natel) and we will be sending the items to the rangers in the first of the year and filming them receiving the goods!
They have no idea that we came home to support them this way, and we can't wait to watch their reactions when they realize that friends from the other side of the world cared enough to support them and bring them comfort in 2017.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! This was our first campaign raise for Over and Above Africa and we raised the funds with a week to spare!
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy Chanukah to all of our friends, we look forward to a very exciting 2017 with you!
Kerry and the Over and Above Africa team.
After a whirlwind trip to South Africa, where we met with several private game reserve owners and rangers to discuss the state of the poaching crisis in Africa, we're now back and with our first goal. To raise $5,000 to purchase boots, night vision cameras, flak jackets and camel packs for the rangers. These courageous men work long, dangerous hours, hiking over the worst terrain just to keep a visual on the endangered rhino and elephants, lions and cheetah that live on their property. They do it willingly and without complaint, but what lifted their spirits visibly was our sharing with them how much the rest of the world supports what they are doing, and cares for them! How exciting it will be if we are successful in our raise and we present them with a gift from the other side of the world!
If you'd like to know more about these brave men, and join the crowd back home helping us provide some basic comforts, here's our @GoFundMe campaign: http://bit.ly/2gfyGh6 (we're currently trending so it's a good time to join us!) We'd love to send these items to them for Christmas or the New Year, we've another 4 weeks on the campaign so it will be tight, but if not, then it'll be a great gift to welcome the New Year!
While in South Africa, we were DELIGHTED to be invited to an unveiling of a new technology by techno giants @DimensionData and @CiscoSystems who together have created a comprehensive solution to poaching they are calling, "Connected Conservation." CC includes CCTV biometric scanning, sensors, cameras, thermal imaging, drones and even a helicopter standing by - not to mention trained dogs and a squad of rangers armed and ready to be deployed at the first signs of any poachers! What's most unique about their solution is that it's pro-active, not reactive. Using all of the tech available to them to apprehend the poachers, emphasis is on catching the suspects BEFORE the act, and not after when the animal is dead and the horn/tusks are gone.
It's to be used as a multi-pronged effort in conjunction with several initiatives currently in place that are known to work, such as trained dogs to sniff out weapons hidden in vehicles and monitors that keep a visual on game reserve perimeters. We were extremely impressed with the demonstration that had actually captured and arrested two poachers earlier that morning.
For more on our trip, here's an accounting of the day we were invited to go out on FOOT patrol with the rangers from the Zulu community @Nambiti, tracking rhino.
