Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Ubizane Wildlife Reserve supports World Rhino Day 2012:


Those of you, who follow our blog, will be familiar with our de-horning of our male rhino, and the brutal murder of his mother and butch, his father. With world rhino day 2012 approaching we only felt it natural to celebrate this day, not only for the rhinos we have lost on this very reserve; but for the global loss of the 5 rhino species due to poaching.  


The World Rhino Day tradition started in 2010 as an opportunity for people all over the world to take a stand against rhino poaching and the illegal trade in rhino horn. The latest statistics on rhinos poached for 2012 stand at 388, with the Kruger National Park having lost a total of 241 rhinos since the beginning of this year. Limpopo, the North-West and KwaZulu-Natal continue to be the province’s most targeted by poachers, collectively accounting for 119 of the total rhinos poached this year.


We decided to get our guests geared up for this important event by kick-starting the event on the Friday, when most of our guests were set to arrive for the long weekend coming up. The first obvious sign to our arriving guests as well as the passing traffic that Ubizane was in support of World Rhino Day was our big banner on the gate clearly stating we are in support of World Rhino Day 2012. On arrival at Zululand Tree Lodge and Zululand Safari lodge guests received a bag of cookies, which were made in memory of our late Butch. Our chef made delicious cookies in the shape of a rhino’s footprint. This was almost an exact replica of Butch’s real foot print that is by his skull in Tree Lodge Reception.  




We tried to keep the entire two days as rhino themed as possible, at Afternoon High Tea, which was served in The Fever Tree Forest. Accompanying our normal delicious high tea treats were various flavored biscuits cut into the shape of Rhinos. An informative statistics board was also present; in order to further educate our guests on the seriousness of the matter.





Dinner was served in the Tree Lodge Restaurant, and the elegantly set tables were softly lit by the ambient glow of candles that accompanied a rhino inspired place mat. With a crackling fire, soft lighting and delicious food, it was an evening enjoyed by all.







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