Urgent - Prevent cruel poaching of rare wildlife

Although we never relax our concern and surveillance to ensure the safety of our wild, certain times of the year become even more challenging. Times that are linked to celebrations and also during full moon.

Sadly in conservation circles “full moon” is known as Poachers Moon.

• The reason is that the light of the full moon illuminates the bush most beautifully.
• Still, unfortunately, it also creates a perfect setting for poachers to set their snares without using torchlight that could illustrate their presence.
• For this reason, they can operate without their presence being seen.

During festive seasons such as Easter, Christmas, and other school holidays, double impact must be prevented.

• Young energetic teens, historically would go into the wild to hunt. During school holidays, the excitement is even greater if they can enter a property where hunting and poaching are strictly prohibited.
• A further risk during festive times,the demand for bush meat encourages professional poachers to seek opportunities.

All these risks have been on top of our minds during the December school holidays which have also unfortunately been over a period that the moon way waxing into a huge beautiful golden circle of bright light.

• We have therefore had to increase security measures with extra persons assisting to help management be on the alert at all times, especially during the night.
• Outdoor cam cameras are checked and reset regularly and we have double-checks to ensure that night staff are alert and patrolling.
• We also communicate with neighbors to ensure that they have no reports of intruders as we all work together to protect our fragile wild, both fauna and flora. Poaching is not limited to only wildlife but also to plants and trees that could be targeted for the “muti-market” which are traditional outlets providing indigenous plants and products – sometimes the roots, bark or fruit – of protected species.

Thankfully this festive season - to date, we have managed to keep all safe.

It is only through support from those who care, as you do, that we are able to optimize the protection of our precious fauna and flora and all our biodiversity and wild. Thank you for helping our wild spaces stay safe.

Thank you for caring! 

We wish you every Blessing for a wonderful Christmas and an exceptionally special new year. 

Your support for our Anti-Poaching efforts is greatly appreciated!  We have successfully managed to keep our wildlife safe by preventing any intruders from entering the property to set up snares which is a cruel method of illegally killing wild. At times even domestic animals such as dogs, and cats are snared. Should they stray into are area of unprotected bush, they may walk into a wire snare that a poacher set. Recently in our nearest village that is surrounded by bush, a dog was heard crying and a search team was sent to find it. Eventually, it was found with a snare unable to move and thankfully it was rescued. 

Your support helps us in many ways: 

• We have now completed the second section of security fencing, the first line of defense that helps prevent illegal entry to the Reserve. 

• Our next most important defense is the wonderful work done by our watchmen and wildlife guards who patrol the boundary and check the reserve for signs of illegal entry. They also do snare checks separately, with skilled investigations of our dense bush vegetation, and animal pathways. Our game guards need warm clothes for cold nights. We like to equip them with gloves, insulated jackets, and boots. They also have strong torches to light where necessary at night.  Your contribution helps with these costs and also contributes towards their wages.

• Another aspect of our defense is surveillance with outdoor cam cameras that would capture illegal persons on the property. At times these cameras also show the wild and occasionally a light-hearted moment is experienced when we see one of the wild noses showing a photo of them right up close to the camera, if they try to inspect it! They are very sensitive and aware of anything in their territory! We wish to acquire more of these outdoor cams and any support would be greatly appreciated. 

• Lastly, we use a drone to inspect our reserve's security by capturing aerial photos of the wildlife, the grasslands and the forest vegetation. 

• Apart from all the above measures we remain alert at all times. For instance, should the zebra call we would listen up, continuous calling may mean they have a problem. Our wildlife has ways of telling us if something is amiss. The hadeda birds are especially good at alerting all to a problem with loud insistent calls! 

We are hugely dependent on our sponsors and donors who assist us with the costs of protecting the wild, and we appeal to you to please continue with your support. We would also appreciate if if you could please tell your friends and family about our work.

Once again, thank you for caring!