Wanyama Foundation - Uniting conservation and education

Lion Country Safari staff depart for Africa to help save Wilde Rhinos

Lion Country Safari sent two senior keepers to South Africa this week to participate in field research and conservation programs to protect rhinoceroses. Keepers Dan and Craig have a combined almost 30 years of experience working with rhinos and will apply their expertise in animal care and behavior to support established conservation initiatives.

During their trip to South Africa, the team will visit The Golola Rhino Orphanage and Rehabilitation Centre to help to care for orphaned rhino calves and monitor successfully rehabilitated and released rhinos. The Rhino Orphanage is the world’s first dedicated rhino orphanage, established in 2012, and is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, raising and release of orphaned rhinos back into the wild. Dan and Craig will also work in one of Africa’s most important conservation areas, the Greater Kruger National Park, to identify and assess individual rhinos, participate in daily wildlife monitoring of numerous species, assist in reserve maintenance such as clearing roads and moving trees downed by elephants to maintain habitat integrity and a number of other tasks. 

“I’m excited for the opportunity to utilize my years of expertise in rhino care to impact the conservation of these incredible animals. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine,” said Wildlife Keeper Craig Vandermeid. Lead Rhino Keeper Dan Soler echoed that excitement and added, “I’m also a bit nervous. It’s heartbreaking that a rhino orphanage needs to exist in the first place, but I’m excited for the opportunity to lend a hand caring for and reintroducing the calves. I’m also really excited to visit Kruger National Park and shadow conservation experts in the field.”

There are five species of rhinos (White, Black, Indian, Sumatran and Javan), all of which are in peril due mostly to poaching. There are less than 30,000 rhinos remaining in the wild. For more information on rhinos, visit the International Rhino Foundation www.rhinos.org and Save the Rhinos www.savetherhino.org.