While touring South Africa, the All Blacks took the opportunity to get hands-on with rhino conservation efforts, visiting several organisations working to save our rhino.
Greater Kruger, South Africa (24 August 2022) – The All Blacks have used their opportunity in visiting South Africa to highlight the very real issue of rhino poaching and helping work towards the conservation of this incredible species.
Before playing against South Africa in Mbombela, the All Blacks visited Kruger National Park to see the wildlife first-hand. While they didn’t see rhinos, they were taught all about the trouble our local rhinos face, especially in the Kruger National Park, which borders Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park.
Despite having lost the first match to South Africa, the All Blacks joined the Bokke at the Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary, where they learned how the orphans arrive due to poaching and how they are raised, rehabilitated and released when they are old enough.
To give a whole picture of the conservation efforts in South Africa, once the team was done playing, several supporters and players stayed behind to join the Nkombe-Rhino team for eight days to learn about all the efforts being done on the frontline of the fight against rhino poaching. Ma’a Nonu, Danny and Kara Pryor, and Tom Franklin witnessed the anti-poaching units in action and took part in dehorning rhinos.
“Thank you to the people we were lucky enough to work along side. It takes a lot of hard work, organisation and dedication to do what they do and without them they would have no hope.
Let’s hope enough change can happen that we will still have Rhino around for our future generations.” – Tom Franklin
Nkombe-Rhino is a non-profit company that was founded during the height of the poaching war in South Africa.
“We believe that through the support and protection of rhino populations with Anti Poaching units, dehorning projects, detection and tracking dogs, patrol and reaction flights, better equipped entrance control and many other tools in rhino conservation, that the other protected or endangered species on reserves benefit equally.”
Nkombe-Rhino works with reserves in the Greater Kruger to offer support to their conservation and anti-poaching efforts.
The Nkombe-Rhino team shared that it was a privilege hosting some of the All Blacks and All Black Maori players on this conservation safari.
“Thank you for sharing our work and the plight of rhino conservation guys.
The project was concluded by the players doing the famous Ka Mate Haka!”
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