Now! Always! We have successfully purchased the horses but horses eat and need healthcare. Grooms and Rangers need training and to be outfitted with gear. Continued support will always be welcomed.

Yes! We have partnered with Inquiring Systems, Inc as our nonprofit fiscal sponsor. Please consider making a donation.

This project has always been about spreading awareness about the plight of the wild rhino. Please share this project on social media. If you know of people who work in journalism, the horse industry, tourism, wildlife conservation, the arts etc. please make them aware of this project. Long-term, we would like to establish a non-profit organization to continue Rhino conservation efforts. If you have experience with start-up non-profit organizations we would greatly appreciate your assistance. In the short-term we would love to arrange a fiscal sponsorship so donations could be tax-deductible. If you run a non-profit and would like to serve as our fiscal sponsor please reach out. Contact ProjectThorn with ideas of how you would like to help.

Your contributions to the Hornucopia campaign will be used directly for the purchase of the horses, their needs for a year (or 3 if we reach the 30,000$ goal), necessary repairs to the existing stables, training for new rangers, fiscal sponsorship fees.

There are a number of answers to this question. What it boils down to is that we saw a way that we could help make a significant change in the protection of the rhino and the safety of the rangers. It is a goal within reach. The amount isn’t so large that it is unachievable, yet it is still a stretch to reach. Also, The project has a very specific concrete goal that is quantifiable and verifiable. All contributions will be used directly in the protection of rhinos and rangers through the use of horses. Horses are proven effective in anti-poaching efforts. Simply said the rhinos and the rangers that protect them need our support

Yes — And we know this because we did it! With the 15,ooo$ we raised we have the horse patrol up and working. Due to the generosity of yourselves and horse owners and trainers we were able to start the program with 7 horses – not the 5 we hoped for. but for the original response to this question the answer was: Due to the strength of the dollar, your money goes a very long way in South Africa at the moment. Friends with horses here in the states pay more than 15k to stable, feed and care for one horse each year. I know that it does not seem feasible that we could purchase 5 wildlife trained horse, support them, care for them and still have money left over to make art with. We assure you it can be done and will be done if we reach the fundraising goals set forth in this campaign.

Hornucopia is a play on words that combines Horn and Cornucopia. We are optimists and believe that with education the demand for rhino horn can be curbed – Decrease the consumers, decrease the demand. Soon people will conclude that a healthy, safe crash of rhinos with their horns intact can provide more for the community as a whole then the one-time payout a poacher receives from aiding the syndicates. Additionally, increased risk and greater consequences for poaching are becoming more effective deterrents. Thus the name, Hornucopia: Horn of Plenty. One day we hope everyone realizes that only the rhino needs it’s horn.

The horses allow the rangers to patrol areas of the park that are difficult to reach any other way. The park is over 160,000 acres. It is enormous and many areas are not accessible by vehicle. 40% of the poaching incidences occurred in the area the horses will be actively patrolling. Currently the only way to reach many of these areas is on foot. A horse allows the rangers to cover 5 times the area in the same period of time. The horses also mask the scent of humans and camouflage footprints. Additionally, horses allow for rapid response to poaching sites. When used in conjunction with trained dogs to track poachers, the speed of response greatly improve the likelihood of apprehension. The horses will also be used to inspect the fence line for breaches, and to conduct research and ecological monitoring.

The original goal with the campaign was to raise the funds necessary to support the program for 3 years. Now due to the overwhelmingly positive impact the horses are having in the anti-poaching efforts of the park, the park authorities took over the operational expenses of the horse program.

Cash donations would be pooled into a general operational fund. Those funds would then be allocated however and wherever the central government wanted them to go. To ensure the funds actually are used as intended, a direct donation of a horse and of a saddle and of food, etc. must be coordinated. To accomplish this we will be working with both the rangers at KZN Wildlife (iMfolozi) and with the organization 12Hours. We have an existing relationship with 12Hours from a previous fundraising effort for RhinoArt. We have been to the park and we have met the rangers who will be working with the horses.

First just keeping the rhino alive helps the local community. The region relies on tourism for income directly and indirectly. This particular park is known for their rhino. The tourists that visit the park are typically doing so specifically because this park is attributed for bring the white rhino back from the brink of extinction. The park employs many people from the local community in a variety of capacities from working in the bush, and maintaining the property, to working in guest relations and park concessions. The park is a large employer in the region.