As a native of Kenya, my early memories of the abundance of wildlife are very vivid. There were countless herds of elephant and well over 70,000 Black Rhino roaming free in Africa. Poaching was occasionally reported in the news. However, tragically, numbers of poached Black Rhino all over Africa have been increasing relentlessly. In South Africa alone, poached rhino have increased from as few as 13 in 2007 to about 1200 in both 2014 and 2015. The attached graphic, indicative of poaching statistics in many African countries where rhino can be found, paints a hopeful picture of reducing rhino deaths due to poaching but, is that because there are so few left? 

The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, http://www.lewa.org, for whom the Tusk Trust fundraises, works tirelessly to preserve endangered species, such as the Black Rhino. It enlists the help of local communities in these endeavours by providing education and support to them, thus ensuring the mutual benefit wildlife survival engenders. 

The Safaricom Marathon is an annual event which is regarded in marathon circles as one of the tougher races on the calendar. As a fundraiser it has contributed a significant amount to the cause of endangered species protection as well as supporting the Lewa local communities. Please view the video clips in the following link to get a flavour of what the Safaricom Marathon is about. 

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