Rhino warriors vow to stamp out poaching
Two local school pupils vow they will do all they can to spread awareness and lend their voice to the scourge of rhino poaching.
TWO local girls and rhino warriors have vowed to pull out all stops in order to raise awareness and stop the scourge of rhino poaching. Santhuri Badal and Shiara Covenden were recently inducted as World Youth Wildlife Ambassadors at the World Youth Rhino Summit in Seula Zimbili on KZN’s North Coast.
Designed to raise awareness of the plight of the rhino, the summit saw a number of team-building activities alongside a rhino conservation discussion and debate programme. The trade in wildlife and natural resources is the fourth most profitable illegal trade in the world after drugs, arms and human trafficking, estimated at $284-billion annually.
Santhuri, a Danville Park Girls’ High School pupil, said the summit was a life-changing experience.
“The voices of our youth represent hope at a time when the rhino poaching crisis has been recognised as a worldwide wildlife emergency. I learnt so much from this summit that I want to make other people aware of. When school re-opens, I’m hoping to give a speech at my school to spread the word. If we do not do something today to save the rhino, it will become extinct in my lifetime,” said the Sunningdale resident.
Her thoughts were echoed by Crawford College La Lucia pupil, Shiara.
“One of the biggest impacts on me was by world-renowned wildlife vet, Dr William Fowlds, who works with rhinos who were de-horned. He showed us a video of a rhino calf that had been targeted by poachers, which was heartbreaking, but it brought home the message and strengthened my conviction to spread the word and make a difference.
“I learned that rhino horn is worth more than cocaine and gold on the black market. We, the youth, are the future and we need to use our messages to drive action at local, national and international levels,” Shiara said.
At the end of the summit, delegates signed the World Youth Wildlife Declaration, which will travel round the world collecting supportive messages and signatures before being presented to global leaders, with the ongoing aim to build a global youth movement against rhino poaching and wildlife crime.
