Rhino Conservation Botswana (RCB) is delighted to announce that His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales has agreed to become the charity’s new Patron.
Founded in 2014, RCB is an international organisation that monitors and protects black and white rhinos it helps rescue from poaching hotspots across southern Africa and move to Botswana. Here, thanks to the government’s robust anti-poaching laws and the support of the military, the rhinos can thrive – and ultimately become one of the last great hopes for the survival of their kind.
The announcement comes after Prince Harry visited Botswana last September, where he joined an RCB operation to fit electronic tracking devices to critically endangered black rhinos, which had been translocated to the Okavango Delta. Working as part of a small team, His Royal Highness helped with tasks including clearing thorn bushes from around sedated rhinos so that tracking devices could be fitted, monitoring the animals’ breathing and heart rate, administering oxygen, covering the rhinos’ eyes to protect them, and helping to keep the animals cool with water. These individual actions will help protect rhinos, and maintain the important biodiversity these animals depend on to survive in the wilderness.
RCB’s director, Martin ‘Map’ Ives, said:
“Prince Harry has seen at first-hand the cruel and senseless damage inflicted on these endangered animals by poachers. I know that His Royal Highness’s support for our work will make a real difference to rhino conservation. We are hugely grateful for the work and support Prince Harry has already extended to RCB, and look forward to working with him in the future as our Patron.”
Map Ives goes on to explain:
“Across Africa, rhinos are being poached for their horns at a rate that could make them extinct in the wild within 10 years. It’s a senseless trade; rhino horn has no proven medicinal value. Even so, demand is increasing. Today rhino horn is worth more than gold. Despite their size, rhinos have no defences against bullets and high-powered weapons. They are completely reliant on our protection and on our efforts to turn the current tide of poaching for their survival. RCB’s message is one of hope. Together, we can stop rhinos from going extinct and build a safer future for these magnificent animals.”
As featured in the short film released today, Prince Harry said whilst in Botswana:
“The rhino is one of Africa’s most iconic species. This is a black rhino, an animal that deserves the utmost respect, so to be able to be sitting next to her is incredibly special. The black rhino has been reintroduced into Botswana and its numbers are increasing here, while numbers are decreasing elsewhere. If we can’t save these animals, what can we save?”
On becoming Royal Patron of RCB, Prince Harry said:
“I’ve been lucky enough to visit Botswana for more than 20 years and am incredibly fortunate to be able to call it my second home. Being Patron of RCB is an opportunity to give something back to a country that has given so much to me.” 2
“It’s about time we start celebrating and supporting the countries that are taking the lead in conservation.”
Prince Harry joins the Honourable Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism Tshekedi Khama as a Patron of RCB. The charity works closely with partners, including the Botswana Government and the Botswana Defence Force, and supporters across Africa and around the world, to protect ‘ark’ populations of black and white rhinos.
To learn more about RCB, visit www.rhinoconservationbotswana.com.
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