Social Responsibility Archives

Dr Mike Toft Zululand Wildlife Treatment Centre

Cycle of Life Charity Funds is delighted to announce that one of our biggest projects, the Endangered Species Boma at the Dr Mike Toft Zululand Wildlife Treatment Center, is finally finished and ready to accept injured wildlife. A huge thanks goes to a small group of donors for donating funds and material towards building this project! Their contribution will have a positive impact on the whole KZN region in support of treating and rehabilitating injured priority species with this much needed facility. A big thank you goes to Dave Veldman who has managed and co-ordinated this project and to Gordon Gilbert who arranged the conveyor belt which will protect the animals. Our loyal sponsors were the first visitors - Jason from Olympic Cycles, Guy Lanfear - accountant for Cycle of Life, Mikey Ford - Head Boy of Diocesan College 2020 and Steve Ciolli.

Riding for a Cause | Impact of The Cycle of Life on Rhino Conservation

On Sunday 12th March 2017, among 35,000 avid cyclists, set to take on the 109km Cape Town Cycle Tour, was The Cycle of Life team.

By Rebekah Copham| November 28th, 2017|Africa Foundation, Conservation 112 people poised to cycle for a purpose – raising funds to #HelpusHelpOurRhinos. And I, was poised to write. To tell their story. Mother Nature however, as she so often does, had her own ideas, and due to winds exceeding 100km/hour, for the first time in its 40 year history, the cycle tour was cancelled. I put my pen down, and held my breath a little. However, the funds continued to flow in, promised sponsorships were not revoked. The cycle event had ceased to be, but the plight of the rhinos had not, and the spirit of generosity lived on.

2017 Cycle of Life Team

Almost R 1M Rand was raised, under the banner of #HelpusHelpourRhinos. The rhinos being a cause very close to the hearts of Simone, Rene and Faye, who run The Cycle of Life tour company, offering bespoke ‘bucket list’ experiences in Africa, and have close emotional connections to Munyawana Conservancy in KwaZulu Natal South Africa, where andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve lies. Since 2014, The Cycle of Life has been raising funds through the epic Cape Town Cycle Tour in the name of protecting endangered rhinos for the joy of generations to come. While poaching, on the whole, is in decline in South Africa, (according to statistics released by South African Department of Environmental Affairs), in 2016, 1054 rhinos were lost as a result of poaching activity.

Rene, Faye and Simone, of The Cycle of Life

Funds raised through The Cycle of Life enable a holistic approach to be taken to protect rhinos, allowing conservationists and reserve managers at Munyawana, the opportunity to tackle the issue on all fronts. Increased security around the reserve is a necessary precaution, and takes the form of fencing, which needs to be regularly checked and maintained, and new cameras which have been installed at the 4 park gates. Increasing security staff, including supplying them with uniform and radio devices, provides greater coverage on the ground.

Dehorning

Rhino Horn Shavings

Dehorning is also seen as the necessary evil of saving the rhino and through The Cycle of Life funds, a number of white and black rhino within andBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve have had their horns removed. The horn, made of keratin – the protein found in nails and hair, grows back making dehorning an ongoing process. Approximately 18 months after the initial dehorning it is time for the rhino to have a trim. Which is easy to say, but no mean feat to do, involving helicopters to locate the rhinos that roam free in the 28,600 ha reserve, a vet and team of reserve staff to assist in the operation. Tracking rhino isn’t only restricted to seeking out those in need of dehorning and The Cycle of Life sponsorship has enabled staff to be employed to run a daily tracking system; as simple as driving sections of the reserve daily and using sight and instinct, to monitor the rhinos whereabouts and well-being. Unique ID tags enable the recording of sightings, along with any indicators of injury, distress or illness. In addition to this, a fixed wing plane is used to circle above the reserve on a weekly basis, providing the advantage of an aerial view of the rhinos and surrounding habitat.

It is estimated that there are less than 2,500 black rhino left in Africa

When new black rhino were introduced to the reserve earlier in 2017, The Cycle of Life funds enabled the purchase of foot collars. These devices allowed an initial continuous monitoring of the rhinos, generating comprehensive reports on their movements, so that the team could ensure the rhinos settled into their new environment. Recently, a female rhino with calf, was spotted by the trackers having difficulty walking, in a location which was lacking in adequate food and water supply. Over the following days of observation it became apparent that her injury was preventing the two rhinos from making any progress and the lack of sustenance in their immediate vicinity was going to prove detrimental. Decisions to intervene are complex for conservationists, but to facilitate, the vet was called to make an assessment of the foot. The beauty of the money from The Cycle of Life, is that when unexpected costs such as this arise, funds are available to respond. The vet used high-tech equipment to X-Ray the rhinos foot, right there in the bush. A dislocated toe was discovered – probably the result of a high impact collision with a sharp object while running at speed. An unusual injury, and one made worse by a subsequent infection in the foot, which likely entered where the nail had split with the injury. It was obviously immensely painful for this 1.5 tonne gentle giant.

The Vet applies a bandage after the foot has been cleaned and treated with antibiotic

The decision was made to relocate the rhino and her calf to an area in the reserve richer in food and water supply, and where they could be more easily monitored by the tracking team. Treatment for her infection was also to be administered. Not long after their relocation, it came to light that the Phinda reserve team had not rescued two, but three rhinos, as the injured rhino has in fact been pregnant, and delivered her second calf. The vet and team have been visiting this family every 7 – 10 days now for the past 3 months, and treatment on the foot continues, with thanks in part to the support of The Cycle of Life, and the generosity of all those who got on their bikes, and trained hard to achieve a personal goal, and despite not being able to complete the race continued to support the cause.

The injured rhino with her two calves

Funds generated have also enabled collaboration with Zululand Rhino Orphanage, where young rhinos are cared for and prepared for a return to the wild, after incidences of poaching leave them orphaned. In the same manner as at Munyawana Conservancy, funds are allocated to a number of activities at the Orphanage, including dehorning, vet fees, food and medical supplies. The Cycle of Life are busy again building up their team for the 2018 race, on March 11th, and would welcome new members to come on board. With great team spirit, training sessions take place all over South Africa, and in fact the world, and team members become friends through their passion for cycling, outdoors and conservation of beautiful reserves and rhinos. To join the team and help to continue to raise the funds that keep these vital and sometimes unpredictable initiatives going check out The Cycle of Life website here. To support the team click here. And, thank you once more, to all the cyclists and donors of 2017, for the real impact that you are having to #HelpusHelpourRhinos!

Have you felt the heat of a Rhinos hide

I have …. Had you asked me this 5 years ago, I would never have imagined encountering one rhino, let alone participating in the plight of the remaining 20 000 odd rhinos.

As most of you know, Simone, Renè and I cycled in The Cape Town Cycle Tour to tick it off our bucket list – however, we felt we needed a cause and since Simone is passionate about the bush, the obvious choice was cycling for rhinos. Me…. I was happy to be part of the team and festivities. Forward 5 years later, over a million rand raised and countless rhinos dehorned.

Let me share one of the most heartfelt 3 days of my life. Thanks to the awesome work of The Cycle of Life™ I got to go to KZN firsthand and document 15 Rhino’s being dehorned. Funded by The Cycle of Life™. Day 1: After a 5 hour journey from Cape Town, I arrive safely at the newly renovated Bayala Private Safari Lodge (3 hours North of Durban) I’m welcomed by familiar friendly faces and an iced tea. Bayala has generously sponsored the duration of my stay. Day 2: I’m off to an early start. At 5:45 JR, my incredibly knowledgeable ranger, who I’m convinced, was born in the bush, eagerly awaits. … we’re off with the excitement of what the day has to bring. The agenda is to dehorn 5 rhinos. The Phinda Conservation Team consists of Simon Naylor, the very capable conservation manager of the 30 000 hectare Mun-ya-wana Reserve. Then there’s Trevor, the highly skilled wildlife vet, a gorgeous helicopter pilot accompanied by an uber rich Texan who sponsored the use of the helicopter. The rest of the team is made up of volunteers, researches, assistants and other very professional looking people.

Whilst the helicopter hovers above, the confused white rhino and her 2 year old calf run blindly. Vet Trevor administers the opioid dart from the heli, takes aim and accurately darts her in the rear. The anesthetic immediately takes effect as she slows down and her 800kg body clumsily falls to the ground. With slick precision the Phinda Conservation Team covers her eyes with a blindfold and plugs her ears to drown out any sound. And so the perfectly skilled process is executed. The horn’s length and circumference is measured, the ears are notched, DNA and blood samples are taken for research and identification. The horn is measured about 5 cm’s above the base and the dramatic sound of a chainsaw powers up. Skillfully the vet saws the horn off and with the same skill continues to saw off the smaller horn above. The stump is then trimmed, smoothed and covered with tar to prevent infection, cracking and drying. The vet then reverses the anesthetic and the cow stumbles to her feet in a daze to desperately seek her baby.

So you ask …what happens to the horn? – It’s micro-chipped and flown off the reserve to a vault somewhere in Gauteng. Then you ask … what is the horn made of? – Nothing more then compact keratin, just like your finger nails Did you know that the horn grows back every 18 months to 2 years? – Yes, dehorning is quite an expensive process, from about R20 000 per rhino. The rest of day 2 was thrilling – after dehorning 4 white rhinos we dashed off to the South Eastern side of the reserve to an area called Lulubush – For conservation purposes the fences around Lulubush were dropped, allowing the animals more space to traverse.

Day 3: Thankfully we had a little sleep in and a hearty Bayala breakfast – dutifully JR was ready and waiting at 11 am. The plan was to head back to Lulubush to locate more black rhinos. Fortunately the generous Texan decided to take a days rest and Simon offered me the opportunity to accompany Vet Trevor and a very pretty navigator in the Heli – Yipppeee – I was beyond excited as this was a luxurious heli with light leather upholstery. Feeling like a celebrity the heli’s blades sliced into the afternoon sky, and we were on a mission to find black rhino. If day 2 was a success then day 3 turned out to be a hit-and-miss affair. Now, black rhino are a little bit of crazy, you’d think you’d easily spot a 600kg rhino from the air but not on this particular day. When we eventually spotted 2 black rhinos, they rolled their tails up and dashed straight into the dense bush. We managed to track them for a pretty long time but being black rhino they just never let up. Trevor attempted to dart one of the rhino and missed. After the second dart the poor fellow fell head first into a ditch. We hurriedly landed the helicopter and navigated through the thorny shrubs to locate the darted rhino. He was lying in an awkward position and the vet had to reverse the drug and wake him up before any harm was done. Not all was lost as we went on to dehorn 3 black rhino in quick succession – bringing the number to 15 dehorned rhinos over 3 days. Departure Day: We thanked and bid farewell to the hospitable Bayala family and headed back to Cape Town feeling like a deflated balloon. So, what does rhino hide feel like? The skin is pretty thick, a little bit rough with bristly hairs adding to the tough texture … A feeling I’ll never forget. By Faye

Social Responsibility

Water Project for the KwaNgwena Community