Sehawukele Have Mercy on Us!

A Six-Month Whirlwind

We thought 2020 was our best year ever. It’s got nothing on the first six months of 2021. We are moving so fast we’re making ourselves dizzy. It would take one newsletter per item of news, but we’re going to do our best to be concise and limit everything that’s happened in an action-packed two months to one newsletter. Our aim as always is to keep you, our donors and partners, updated on it all!  Now that our partnership with Saving the Survivors and iconic veterinarian Johan Marais is finalized, we are launching Seha’s Fund. Seha’s full name is Sehawukele — which means Have Mercy on Us.

He is the most injured of all rhinos: he is truly the face of poaching. This heroic creature has endured 30 operations. But six years after most of his face was gouged away, he is still alive.

Seha the Survivor The story of Seha the Survivor, written by Helena Kriel, Baby Rhino Rescue’s founder, was published May 19 in The Daily Maverick, South Africa’s top newspaper. Read the story that has people in tears!  Click HERE for Seha's story in the Daily Maverick

Moved by Seha’s story, the Reverend Brent Chambers had it animated. Here is the extraordinary result! He used Seha’s story to communicate a Christian teaching. While religion might not be for you, the teaching is beautiful and Seha’s story will make you cry. Guaranteed.  Watch it here: Sehawukele – Have Mercy On Us

The Brian Weatherman Seha Fund Matching Challenge! Longtime special donor Brian Weatherman has stepped up with a challenge for all donors. He is matching all donations up to $5,000! Brian Weatherman + Donors = One Rhino lady for Seha!  We hope you will be as impassioned as we are to get Seha back the life he lost by returning him to the wild with two beautiful females to mate with! Let’s correct this terrible injustice done to an innocent and brave creature!  Donate to Seha’s Fund

Rhino Connect Helena Kriel and newly appointed BRR board member Helen Lunn recenty hit the road with Tersia Jooste of Rhino Connect. Tersia represents 40 different private rhino owners, known as PROs PROs have 75% of the country’s rhinos and are the ones serving the rhino and keeping them safe. Less than 5% of poaching happens on private farms, but the hefty anti-poaching bill is paid at their own expense.

Faced with diminishing funds, the PROs find themselves in a desperate situation. Many are going bankrupt and letting go of their rhinos. It was essential for us to meet some of these heroes and hear from them directly.  Because their situation is so sensitive, and the onslaught of poaching so extreme now, we have agreed not to name any of the organizations! Even to trusted donors — this is considered too dangerous!  “Until recently poaching incursions on private farms were about every two months. Now they are every two days!” said Tersia Jooste of Rhino Connect.  As numbers of rhinos in the Kruger dwindle, the rhino mobsters turn their attention on those in private hands

Sampson and Delilah

One of the extraordinary properties Helena and Helen visited was in a very remote part of the country that took two hours of bumpy driving to get to!  In the middle of true wild, this family has been looking after a small group of rhinos for 30 years. Amongst this crash are Sampson and Delilah, both 40 years of age. They are the world’s two most iconic rhinos. Sampson, truly the “new Sudan,” is a creature from myth. Speaking to the owners, it was identified that help with security issues was critically needed. Ten days after our visit, a poacher took a shot at Sampson, luckily hitting him only in the leg.

Helena was able to bring the plight of these owners to Bruce “Doc” Watson, who with his organization Conservation Connection does state of the art security programs through Africa. With 51 projects in dire need, Doc responded to Helena’s call to design a security system for these two spectacular rhinos! This personal connection to the man who could truly step in was made possible by long-term donor Doreen Royan. We thank her so much! Connections are everything. And this illustrates our mission statement: “Working together to save the rhino from extinction.” We have funds in place to be a significant partner and we’ll update you in the next newsletter. For now, we'd like to announce our new project — The Private Rhino Owner Collective. Helena and Helen also met with other true heroes and saw glorious rhinos. It became clear that partnering with Rhino Connect, which represents 40 of these PROs, is BRR’s next vital move. We will be analyzing what the PROs need on a monthly basis. Our first project is the collaboration on security for Sampson and Delilah! By keeping the PROs supported, we protect those who are truly saving the rhinos. Your contributions are going to go even farther now.

And while all this was taking place, up north in the Khalahari, our state-of-the-art license recognition cameras were being installed! This links the game reserve we support in that region to another seven reserves in the area, covering 1000 sq kms! Step-by-step, rhinos get safer.

Following up on their first article together in the SA’s leading newspaper, The Daily Maverick, Helena and Don Pinnock achieved something historic — Hitherto considered impossible, they invited key NGO’S, top wildlife vets, sanctuaries, PROs, and the acting CEO of the Kruger Park to a zoom to brainstorm the way forward.  Read the full story here: The future of rhinos: What it will take to save an endangered ancient species 

The Amazing Weatherman Clan! We want to thank the Weatherman family. They are truly a BRR royal family. Chris, Kelly and Brian are working together on Seha’s fund. And Brian, pictured with his infant son, has donated the 5k mentioned earlier. Kelly is an official part of BRR. All have shown great loyalty and friendship. We are thrilled that Seha’s fund has the power of the Weatherman family behind it!

Practical and Passionate! We also want to deeply thank our VP Carla Melucci. Carla is the unusual combination of being sensible, practical and passionate! She keeps everything on track and is helming Seha’s fund.

‘Mr. Big’ Shot and Killed And in the news: Petros Mabuza was killed recently, execution style, by a rival gang. Pumping bullets into his face was revenge for Mshengu, as he was also known, executing the family of a rival gang.  He was the real rhino poaching kingpin, with 70% of all poaching orchestrated by him. He also paid for poachers’ bail, so there were no real consequences to getting caught. His death is truly a game changer in the rhino world. Rhinos will step a little more safely on the next full moon.

Thank you for being with us in this undertaking to save rhinos.  Many of you have been partners from the beginning.  What started in 2015 continues to gather momentum. We supported one sanctuary six years ago. And now we have five different partners: the two largest sanctuaries, one for Kruger Park babies, one for PRO babies, The Biggest Private Big5 game reserve in SA. Iconic wildlife vets, and a portfolio of 40 private rhino owners! • Saving the Survivors • Rhino Connect • The largest Big5 game reserve (that we still cannot name!) • Rhino Pride Foundation • Care for Wild Rhino Sanctuary And you! Together we truly are working to save the rhino from extinction.