‘Spot the rhino’ fight against poaching
Creating an innovative way to raise awareness for rhinos, Globeflight created the ‘Spot the Rhino’ initiative whereby the public is encouraged to spot the Ilanga, their beautifully painted mascot.
Courier company Globeflight is leading the charge when it comes to rhino poaching and rhino conservation.
With the black rhino in serious danger of extinction and rhino poaching on the rise, the company has set up the Ilanga campaign to promote awareness and collect funds for the Wilderness Wildlife Trust’s Black Rhino relocation project and the International Anti-Poaching Foundation (IAPF).
“Creating awareness is very important to us – we want our kids to see the Big Five one day,” says Globeflight marketing manager, Megan Kennaird.
Weighing 220 kg, the mascot has toured South Africa (Witbank, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, George, Cape Town, Durban, Kimberley and Bloemfontein, to name a few) and Swaziland in a specially branded van from July 4.
Ilanga still has a few towns to visit before the end of September.
Ilanga was spotted on the corner of Rondebult Road and Robinson Avenue in Boksburg on Thursday, September 18.
At each point visited, green rhino puzzles were distributed among motorists to raise awareness.
According to Kennaird, the idea is that the public take photos or videos of their assembled Ilanga in any fun or interesting location and post it to the company’s Facebook, Twitter or Youtube page.
The entries will be judged on the most well-travelled, most creative and best ‘selfie’, therefore, the public has to like, share, retweet, favourite and comment on the photos posted to increase the chances of winning.
A winner will be chosen from each region, as well as three main winners who stand a chance to win three nights at a five-star Safari Camp for two people.
Winners will be announced on September 26.
For each ‘selfie’ received, Globeflight donates to Wilderness Wildlife Trust and IAPF.
“So far, the response has been great. We’ve had celebrities such as DJ Fresh and Minki van der Westhuizen on board. We’ve also been on Expresso,” says Kennaird.
She says that they’ve also been filmed in other towns.
“It is great to see people’s reactions – there are a lot of people who cares for this cause.”
Kennaird says the best moment of touring through the country with the campaign was at Care for Wild in Nelspruit where they had the opportunity to interact with the rhinos.
At the end of October Ilanga will also be auctioned; funds will go to Save our Rhinos.
Globeflight are also selling bracelets on their website and will start selling beanies to raise funds for Save our Rhinos.
Visit the following sites to view the pictures or for any other information:
* www.facebook.co./globeflight1
*www.twitter.com/globeflight1
* www.youtube.com/globeflight1
* www.globeflight.com – @IschkeBoksburg
