Save the Waterberg Rhino was founded by Ant and Tessa Baber, Victoria Crake and Gustav Collins. Ant and Tessa own a reserve in the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve of South Africa. They were devastated in December 2011 when one of their white rhino cows was poached together with her 11 month old baby. At the end of July 2012 another of their white rhino cows was poached, although on this occasion her 18 month old baby managed to escape.Although they employed security guards after the first poaching, they were struck again and took the decision that we have to do more. There are around19,000 white rhinos in South Africa, with approximately 20-25% of this number in private ownership. With the explosion in rhino poaching to feed the Asian demand for rhino horn to be used in traditional medicine, private rhino owners have come under increasing pressure to protect their rhinos. Private rhino owners have found themselves at the forefront of the battle against rhino poachers and have a massive part to play in safeguarding rhinos for the future. The cost of protecting small populations of rhinos is, however, enormous and, in some cases, can discourage landowners from having rhinos on their land.
Save the Waterberg Rhino are delighted to have teamed up with The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve and Stop Rhino Poaching.com in order to raise funds to protect rhinos in private ownership around the Waterberg Biosphere area. We have set up a team of respected members of the community, rhino owners, rhino specialist and security experts to manage ‘Save the Waterberg Rhino.’