Since 1987 Save African Rhino Foundation (formerly SAVE Foundation) has been dedicated to saving the rhinoceros from extinction. This effort has seen more than $14.5 million raised for the cause and invested primarily in conservation efforts centred in Zimbabwe and on the black rhino. The organisation is run on a purely voluntary basis meaning that unlike many NGOs, virtually 100% of funds raised are invested directly in to projects for the benefit of the rhino. We mainly provide equipment (4wds, communication and tracking, field kit and veterinary support) and not cash.

We were originally called to action by the fact that between 1972 and 1987, 96% of Africa's black rhinos were slaughtered for their horn, from 65,000 down to 3,500. In 1987, Zimbabwe had around 2,000, South Africa, Kenya and Namibia each had 450 and Tanzania was home to the remaining 150. Now, 37 years on, it's Namibia and South Africa with 2,000 each, Kenya at 950, Zimbabwe with 650 and Tanzania down to less than 100.

In the same timeframe, the southern white rhino, native to South Africa, has grown from 4,000 to around 16,000, showing that dramatic resurgences can occur with the right management strategies. These rhinos are under heavy siege, more than 700 killed in South Africa alone in 2019, down to 395 in 2020, and with more than 9,000 since 2007!

In the 1980s the primary driving force behind the slaughter of the rhinos for their horn was for dagger handles used in Yemen. Today though, the primary driving forces are based around use in South East Asia, in particular Vietnam and China. Here horn, ultimately made of a keratin the same as your fingernails, is used for traditional medicine and as a status symbol. It has no proven medicinal value and yet the demand continues, fuelling the street value greater than that of cocaine and gold.

The primary projects we support are based in the Lowveld of Zimbabwe - in particular, Save Valley Conservancy. Since our inception the largest proportion of Zimbabwe rhinos has moved from the National Parks areas and the Zambezi Valley to the private conservancies of the Lowveld in the south east. As a result our funding has followed. In addition, though, we still support the National Parks and are hopeful Gonarezhou will see reintroduction of rhinos in the near future - now done in 2021.

Throughout the years our main forms of fundraising have been our annual dinner/auctions, our safaris and our memberships/donations. More than 7,900 guests have attended our 20 dinners, mainly at the Perth Hyatt Regency, resulting in more than $1,800,000 being raised, mostly through the sale of unique cricket memorabilia.

We have hosted over 500 passengers on our safaris to Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, and our main destinations have been Imire, Hwange, Victoria Falls, Chobe and the Okavango Delta, with less frequent visits to Lake Kariba, Cape Town and Etosha.

We are grateful for a donation of any size and our guarantee is that this money will be well spent. Every dollar donated hits the ground running in a worthwhile rhino project to its full value. In addition we firmly believe that your donation to rhino conservation will greatly benefit all other species. Rhinos require large areas of undisturbed habitat and as a result entire ecosystems benefit from their protection!

How will your donation be used?

Please visit our website at www.savefoundation.org.au to gain a more complete understanding of the wonderful projects we support and what we are about. You will also find our newsletters from over the years and audited financial reports.