A Rhino is killed
every day
in south africa
Time is running out.
Your donation can help protect them.
DONATE TO ROCKWOOD TO HELP COVER
SOME OF THE BIGGER EXPENSES:
Rockwood is situated between the Great Karoo and Kalahari Deserts. As you can imagine, it’s an arid, semi-desert most of the year. The area may seem inhospitable, but it’s hard to deny it’s unspoiled beauty.
The location’s remoteness works in favour in terms of safety and security. But with over 300 rhinos and all the other wildlife under Rockwood’s care, we have to truck feed in during the scarcer months. Tons of feed is brought in to maintain our wildlife population.
In recent years, this has become even more crucial with devastating droughts and prolonged dry seasons leaving insufficient natural grazing.
Our multi-camp system means that the rhinos are surrounded by over a hundred miles of electric fencing. There are also ranger towers, outposts, horseback patrols, drones and infra-red security cameras to monitor and protect our rhinos 24/7. All of which requires maintenance that is made more costly due to our remoteness.
Our secluded location also means vets have to be flown in by chopper for routine health checks on rhinos or if there is ever an emergency. A vet is also on-site whenever research scientists and their students visit to gather samples and stats on the rhino’s health.
Performing health checks and collecting research samples takes a huge team to pull off successfully. Rhinos can weigh up to two tons, so for their safety and ours, they’re sedated using specialized darting kits. The drugs and actual dart kit are one of our biggest expenses.
In South Africa, it’s legally required that every rhino must be DNA profiled. This is for a number of reasons, the most important being that if a rhino is ever poached, DNA can be used to track where the horn came from and can help build a criminal case against poachers and the illegal black market dealers.
DNA is also useful in ensuring the genetic diversity of the entire population. Back in the 1970s rhinos were all but wiped out, but we managed to bring them back from only a few hundred animals. It was a major triumph for conservationists, but still has the possibility of a genetic bottleneck. Reduced genetic diversity leaves any species vulnerable to disease, inbreeding and ultimately, extinction.
Despite rhinos being an iconic species, not much is known about these mega-fauna. Rockwood works closely with universities and research scientists from all over the world to expand our knowledge of wildlife, and rhinos specifically.
Rhinos have no natural predators. They’re considered an umbrella species because so many other animals in their habitat rely on their presence. Rhinos only graze on certain types of grass, making room for other types of plant life which other herbivores like zebra and antelope rely on. The smaller herbivores are prey so indirectly, predators rely on a herbivore they can never hunt for their next meal.
Even smaller predators like the black-footed wild cat, one of the smallest African cats, that hunt insects, rodents, birds and reptiles rely on the rhino. Without these animals to keep the grass in check, it would overgrow and hamper the ferocious felines hunting, making it impossible to survive.
Without research, we would never know these two completely different species are so intimately linked.
We’re in the process of putting up learning centres where visitors can share in the experience of saving the rhino and walk away with more than just a good feeling.
At Rockwood, we believe that the more we know, and the more people that know about rhino the better we can protect them, the species and environment that rely on them.
The true benefits
of private wildlife conservation
- A recent annual report by SANParks shows that South Africa’s Kruger National Park has lost an alarming 70% of its rhino population in the last decade.
- In contrast, private reserves experience very few poachings. Only 37 of the 394 rhinos killed in South Africa in 2020 were on private reserves. Rockwood, for one, has not had a single poaching incident in the last five years.
- In addition, our reserve has celebrated the birth of more than 160 baby rhinos to date, with 10 newborns joining our family as recently as February 2021, taking our rhino population to more than 300.
WE CANNOT DO IT ALONE.
With no government funding, our rhino survival depends entirely on the generous contributions of people like you.
160 baby rhino births... and counting!
research and development programmes
Our Donation Promise
100% of your donation goes to keeping our rhinos alive.
Wildlife Voluntourism Is The Ideal Opportunity
With over-population and climate change threatening almost all forms of life on Earth today, the list for needy causes is endless. Wildlife volunteering helps out conservations more than the eye can see. But how do you choose which one of the many conservation efforts in South Africa needs your time the most?
Why Become A Philanthropist For Rhinos
The reasons for becoming a philanthropist are easy enough to understand. Most of us genuinely want to make the world a better place. It’s also a well-known fact, doing good feels good. It’s probably one of our most human traits. Helping others with no obvious benefit to ourselves is what separates us from every other species.
Volunteer At Rockwood And Help Save The Rhino
Rockwood owner, Wicus, and his teams of rangers are on guard 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help protect rhinos. Health checks and collecting blood, milk and many other samples for research takes whole teams of research scientists, students, rangers and volunteers. You can help too by volunteering to work at Rockwood.
HELP TO CONSERVE OUR RHINOS
YOU, OUR VISITORS, PARTNERS & SPONSORS MAKE OUR CONSERVATION EFFORTS POSSIBLE.
