Rhinos Depend on You

More than 2 rhinos have been killed every single day for the last decade in Africa to fuel the illegal trade in rhino horn. Over the last 10 years, rhino horn trafficking networks have become more adaptable, strategic, well-funded and dangerous. They are changing poaching methods, using new technologies, finding alternative trade routes, and aggressively targeting rangers and law enforcement.

The need to constantly respond to these changing poaching tactics and threats puts relentless pressure on rhino reserves and range country governments, who are often constrained by a lack of funding and capacity.

It’s a complex problem that requires a comprehensive, multi-faceted solution.

That’s where you come in.

The work of the International Rhino Foundation is essential –  we protect all five species of rhinos and other species that share their habitats, we provide sustainable incomes to local communities in Africa and Asia, we mitigate the effects of climate change by replanting degraded forests and grasslands – and your donations help support more than 400 rhino staff in 11 countries. 

We need your help to raise $645,000 during these last few weeks of the year to maintain our current rhino programming. A generous, long-time IRF donor has agreed to match every gift you make, dollar for dollar, from today until December 31st. That means for the rest of this year, your gift will go twice as far and make double the impact for rhinos and the communities living with them!

The International Rhino Foundation is building on past successes and implementing a wide variety of solutions to combat the rhino poaching crisis and protect rhinos across Africa and Asia. Because of you, we provide invaluable support to rangers, security managers, and investigators working to monitor and protect rhinos and investigate and prosecute wildlife crimes. With your support, we help local communities working to restore rhino habitats, researchers working to solve critical conservation questions, and the scientists and veterinarians who are breeding rhinos and reintroducing them to areas from which they’ve disappeared.

Because of you, IRF and our local partners have accomplished so much already this year:

• Zimbabwe has a growing rhino population, with 616 black rhinos and 417 white rhinos. This is the first time that Zimbabwe has surpassed 1,000 rhinos in over three decades! The Lowveld region, where IRF has long supported on-the-ground partners and conservation programs, holds the majority of Zimbabwe’s rhinos.

• Local community members in India and Nepal are removing invasive species that choke out rhino food plants from 925 acres across two protected areas. 

• In Ujung Kulon National Park, home to the world’s only population of Javan rhinos, IRF funded the construction of a new guard post on the southern coast, an area of high incursion potential. 

• We provided support to hire 6 new Rhino Rangers in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy of Namibia, who are actively patrolling and monitoring the black rhino population there. 

• This March, we celebrated the birth of a female Sumatran rhino at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park. The calf was born to first-time parents Rosa and Andatu, bringing the Sanctuary population to eight rhinos. A rare birth like this is the reason for hope that drives every one of us to take every possible action this year and beyond to protect rhinos and see them flourish.

We cannot protect rhinos without you, and like so many nonprofit organizations, we are facing an incredibly difficult time due to the global economic situation. The cost of food and fuel has soared in rhino range states, and it has become increasingly difficult to maintain current rhino protection initiatives. Please consider making a donation to the International Rhino Foundation to ensure a future where all five species of rhino survive and thrive. 

Rhinos depend on us, now more than ever, and we depend on your generosity to keep our comprehensive rhino protection programs going.

Rhinos depend on you.