Hope is power

Small original pastel drawing to support The Rhino Anti-Poaching K9 Unit at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi (HiP) Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa through Save the Rhino International.

Since 1 January 2022, over 120 rhinos have been killed by poachers in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi (HiP) Park in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This compares to 102 in the whole of KwaZulu-Natal in 2021! Since Kruger National Park introduced de-horning in 2019 pressure has intensified in HiP.

The Anti-Poaching K9 Unit at HiP currently has 3 anti-poaching dogs, but not enough handlers to maximise the potential of the unit. The use of dogs in the fight against poaching has been a huge success story. They have proved to be an essential tool in fighting wildlife crime by tracking down poachers, detecting wildlife products and recovering illegal weapons and ammunition. A well-trained ranger alongside a well-trained dog a makes a formidable team.

Latest update:

“In the summer of 2022, Lizzie Hide’s ‘Art for Rhinos’ initiative, involving artists from around the world, raised £8,000 for the K9 unit in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in South Africa. The Park currently has one cold-scent Doberman-Bloodhound (owned by EKZNW), one Bloodhound-Doberman (on loan and being trained by EKZNW), one hot-scent Independent Tracking Dog, a Dutch Shepherd, and two handlers employed by EKZNW. The ‘Art for Rhinos’ grant is being used to cover half the annual salary of a K9 Unit Coordinator, as well as training for the handlers at the South African Wildlife College, and an assessment at the end of August 2023 as to the effectiveness of the Unit. The grant is being managed on SRI's behalf by Wildlife ACT.