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The Herald, 29 December 1985
SCHOOLS and companies are joining the Zimbabwe’s Rhino Survival Campaign as the bid by the National Conservation Trust to prevent the black rhino from becoming extinct gathers momentum.

Girls at the Dominican Convent School in Harare have produced an attractive series of tea towels which they are selling in aid of the campaign.

Another novel contribution has come from a local computer company which has adopted the Save the Rhino theme for its 1986 calendars and Christmas cards.

Both the calendars and Christmas cards feature a drawing of a rhino by local artist and Sunday Mail photographer Allan Gray, along with brief details of the rhino poaching problem and the following sentence: “Run rhino . . . but where to? After Zimbabwe, there is nowhere else to go.”

The manager of Realtime computer company Mr Roy Hyslop, said that over the past 25 years, Africa had lost more than 90 percent of its rhino population and the species was fast dwindling in Zimbabwe.

“As a company, we wanted to play our small part in heightening awareness and so, we decided to use our calendars for this purpose. In offices throughout the country for 12 months of 1986 the rhino survival campaign will be staring people in the face. We hope this will have some impact.

LESSONS FOR TODAY
Losing any species to poaching is an ecological tragedy, but losing one that has become a major draw-card for the country’s tourism industry will also have significant social and economic consequences.

According to experts, the rhinos’ poor eyesight leaves them very vulnerable against experienced poachers who are able to approach them within a few metres before opening fire.

These professional poachers are driven by the desire for financial gain and sheer greed.

Rangers are being trained and equipped with better technology and apparatus more than ever before.

The use of helicopters, small aircraft, sniffer dogs, infra-red and GPS systems may play a major role in tracking the movement of both the rhino, its horn and the bad guys. However, these high tech and innovative systems carry a high price tag.

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