Nissan South Africa has donated a Nissan Patrol 4×4 to the Pilansberg National Park’s rhino protection unit to help monitor large areas of the 550km² park.
The vehicle sponsorship comes after Nissan SA’s recent sponsorship of the ear notching of two white rhino in the Pilansberg National Park.
Nissan SA executives attended the notching event, which involves the capture, marking and collection of a DNA sample from the rhino to assist in its tracking, monitoring and identification. The Nissan representatives were so impressed that the company opted to go a step further to help on-going anti-poaching efforts to protect these animals.
The Nissan Patrol forms part of a fleet of vehicles in the rhino protection initiative. Apart from vehicle patrols, the armed and camouflaged rhino protection team also uses specially trained dogs in its K9 unit to assist in detection and tracking exercises.
While rhino preservation efforts are paying off at Pilanesberg National Park, the poaching threat is ever-present.
“We haven’t lost a rhino since February 2016 but this doesn’t mean we can afford to drop our guard,” says Pilanesberg National Park’s manager Johnson Maoka. “Monitoring remains a round-the-clock activity.”