Photographers unite to save rhinos

A Kickstarter campaign currently running to pre-fund a charity book about rhinos has smashed through its original GBP 20,000 funding target in less than three hours, with organisers now revising their expected eventual fundraising to GBP 100,000.


‘Remembering Rhinos’, which has the backing of cricketer Kevin Pietersen, aims both to raise awareness of rhino poaching and to raise funds to protect this endangered species. In the Kickstarter video he filmed for ‘Remembering Rhinos’ Pietersen commented “I hate the rhino trade, I just don’t think it makes any sense.”

Many of the top wildlife photographers in the world have put aside their usual competitiveness to unite for the book, which is a follow up to a smash hit in 2016 called ‘Remembering Elephants.’ That raised more than GBP 135,000 to fight elephant poaching via The Born Free Foundation.

It has been a tough week for those trying to protect rhinos, whose horns are worth more than their weight in gold on the black market. In South Africa, a rhino orphanage set up to care for the offspring of rhinos killed for their horns, was attacked, leading to the death of two baby rhinos and an assault on volunteers working there.

“Everyone in the wildlife world is sick to their back teeth of animals being treated like commodities and slaughtered on a daily basis for their horns, tusks or whatever other body part the ignorant market in the Far East seems to crave,” explained wildlife photographer and Remembering Rhinos founder Margot Raggett. “Our book has hit a nerve as a way for photographers and animal lovers to unite and do something positive to stand up to the poachers. We don’t want to see these species being wiped out in our lifetime.”

Over 50 top wildlife photographers are contributing to the book, including former Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Greg du Toit, who said “Rhinos are a part of me and they are an integral part of my wilderness. To lose them in the wild, would be akin to losing my wilderness and the wilderness is where I go to breathe.”

TheKickstarter campaign runs until 12th March and there, people can pre-order the book that will be published in the autumn.

Ends.

For further information contact:
Margot Raggett
margot@margotraggettphotography.com
07778 502847

Notes to editor:
A selection of high resolution images from the book are available for publication