Mossel Bay’s Botlierskop Private Game Reserve, which earlier this year became the target of the first incident of rhino poaching in the Western Cape, has announced the birth of a new baby rhino.
Said reserve Manager, Francina Terblanche: “The arrival of little Kubudirira on April 15 was a real relief after the shock of losing our bull to poachers.”
Kubudirira means ‘The Future’ in Shona, and had been chosen as a beacon of hope for rhinos in the whole of Southern Africa, the reserve said in a statement.
The reserve’s Head Ranger, Billy Nel, said Botlierskop had taken strong measures to prevent any further poaching. “We’ve removed the horns from the adults, the animals are GPS protected, and they’re under the watchful eyes of a contingent of armed guards.” Nel added that investigations into the earlier poaching incident had not yet revealed any potential suspects.
