If you have been following ProjectThorn since its inception, you have likely seen our first campaign video that featured Thandi after a poaching incident. She miraculously survived the butchering thanks to the dedication of veterinarian WIlliam Fowlds. Below is a video of her and her calf.
Thandi survived a poaching incident on March 2, 2012. Although she was badly mutilated by the poachers hacking her horns off, she survived and has gone on to have a calf. Video footage was shot and generously provided by Paul Mills. Subscribe to Paul’s YouTube Channel.
ProjectThorn’s largest project to date has been the Hornucopia Campaign
The Horses have been a HUGE Success!
But that isn’t all – Check out the Our Work link for the other things we have been up to while the horses have been on patrol.
In May 2019, Karrie and Charles from the ProjectThorn team met up with Grant Fowlds from Project Rhino KZN to visit the horses at Hluhluwe–Imfolozi Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The horses have been on the job for a year now. They are out on patrols daily, riding the fence lines, looking for incursions and snares. At times the horses and rangers function as a visual presence along the roadway that bisects the park to make it known to would be poachers that the park is protected. At other times they help the rangers move swiftly and invisibly through the bush.
The largest marker of success is that not a single rhino has been lost to poachers in the area of the park the horses patrol since they have arrived. We are so grateful to all of the people who played a part in making this project happen.