If you’re wondering about Valentine’s Day gifts, I have an idea (and this goes much further than today’s holiday). Think about the things you love – your family, your partner, your pets, books, places… and the planet. We live in such a remarkable world, one filled with wonder and amazing places, people, and animals that fill our lives with joy. Whether it is seeing brother fox in the hedge, snorkeling and seeing a sea turtle swim by, or going on safari and being in the presence of magnificent wild animals, nature continues to astonish me with beauty, wildness, and life.

African sunset, with Rhino. Photo by Beverly Joubert

Love this rhino! Photo by Beverly Joubert

And yet, we’re not careful guardians of our planet, or the creatures upon it. We cause extinction, tragedy, untold suffering. Today, I’d like to talk about a conservation cause that needs our love.

Rhino down. Photo by Beverly Joubert

Rhino conservation today is a story of despair as our rhinos are being killed at a rate of one every 9 hours. Last year over 1,000 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone. We have reached the tipping point where we lose more rhinos to poaching than at which the present population can breed. We have gone into deficit. Whether it’s 10 years down the line, or slightly longer, the end is inevitable: THE EXTINCTION OF RHINOS.

Rhino, horn removed. Photo Beverly Joubert

It’s frightening that this is happening on our watch. It is horrific that people are systematically killing rhinos for their horns. We need to stop it. The statistics are horrific – in Kruger National Park alone, 29 rhinos have been killed in the last 6 weeks. In 2014 in South Africa, over 1200 rhinos were killed. That’s one every 9 hours or so. What will happen when the rhinos are gone? It’s catastrophic, and has wide-reaching implications for our planet.

Photo by Susan Portnoy, the Insatiable Traveler

Wandering Educators has joined up with over 125 leading travel bloggers, as part of Green Travel Media working with Travelers Building Change to do just that – stop poaching, and keeping rhinos safe. With the #JustOneRhino collaboration, we’re reaching out to hundreds of thousands of our readers to ask for help. It’s not just the rhinos – rhino poaching has much broader (and scarier) implications:

Green Global Travel notes, "In the last year, more and more stories are linking illegal wildlife poaching and trade to radicals such as the Lord’s Resistance Army (Central Africa), Boko Haram (Nigeria), and the Al Qaeda-ffiliated al-Shabab (Somalia). These organizations use the profits from poaching to fund their terrorist activities. Stop the poaching, and terrorists will have to find a new revenue stream. At the same time, you’re building up Botswana’s ecotourism infrastructure, which provides more sustainable income for locals."

Photo by Susan Portnoy, the Insatiable Traveler

How does #JustOneRhino work?

Your donations will help move at least one of the rhinos to a safer location – and there are great prizes to be won (over $30,000 worth!), donated by eco-conscious organizations that believe in helping save #JustOneRhino. Donate here.

Photo by Susan Portnoy, the Insatiable Traveler

100% of the donations will go to Rhinos Without Borders. This is a project funded by National Geographic Explorers in Residence Dereck and Beverly Joubert, known for their photography and conservation work in African wildlife. 

Dereck and Beverly Joubert

Rhinos will be taken safely from South Africa, which has the highest levels of poaching, and released in the wild in Botswana, where it is practically nonexistent.

Photo by Susan Portnoy, the Insatiable Traveler

The prizes!

When you donate to #JustOneRhino, you are entered to win a variety of prizes, including:

International Expeditions

10-day Galapagos Voyage for one. Value $5,298    
Full Trip Details found here.  

Adventure Life

South Africa Big Five Safari: Kruger & KwaZulu-Natal + Swag Bag for 2 people. Value $5000
Full Trip Details found here. 

Photo by Adventure Life

Cobblers Cove Hotel, Barbados

Seven nights bed and breakfast in a Garden View suite. Value $5,187

Yemaya Island Hideaway & Spa, Nicaragua

10 nights’ stay & wellness package for two people at Yemaya Island Hideaway and Spa on Little Corn Island, Nicaragua. Value $5,241

Secret Retreats

• Vouchers for 2 people at Bali Jiwa Villain in Bali, Indonesia.  Value $1,000

• (2) Vouchers for 2 people at The Scent Hotel in Koh Samui, Thailand. Total Value $3000 ($1,500 for each 2-person package)

• Vouchers for 2 people at 4 Rivers Floating Lodge, Koh Kong, Cambodia. Value $900
 

• Vouchers for 2 people at Flower Island, Palawan, Philippines.  Value $900

MORE AWESOME PRIZES

• eBag Luggage
• WeWOOD Watches
• Dinner/Brunch Cruises
• 2 nights in an Italian Villa
• 2 Tours in India
• ExOfficio Gift Certificate
• 2 nights Renaissance Asheville
• Travel Blog Success Lifetime Membership
• African Elephant Photo Pack
• HDR Timelapse Video Camera w/Lens
• Blogger Mentorship Package from Green Global Travel
& more
 
All winners will be announced on March 3rd, 2015 – World Wildlife Day.
 

Photo by Susan Portnoy, the Insatiable Traveler

Can you help save #JustOneRhino? Learn more and donate here.

Thank you to our sponsors!