About the Wildlife Ranger Challenge: 

COVID-19 has brought tourism revenue to a halt across Africa, threatening the important work and livelihoods of the rangers who protect iconic African wildlife such as elephants, pangolins, rhinos, lions, and more. Ranger teams are now uniting around the Wildlife Ranger Challenge, a running race with one goal: to raise money to support thousands of their fellow rangers. Now is the time to go the extra mile—it’s time to race to support our rangers. Every dollar donated will be matched by the Scheinberg Relief Fund, doubling your generous contribution.

Your contribution will help support 112 rangers and an estimated 300 livelihoods in and around Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary in Uganda.

Role of Rangers:

The Rhino Fund rangers are specialized rhino rangers and know their subject. Rangers are trained to conserve all fauna and fauna, as well as educate local community and visitors; however, their focus is in rhino conservation—monitoring rhinos and collecting data 24/7, including body condition detection, behavior monitoring, and recordings of mating, fighting, and  territorial behavior, as well as anti-poaching activities. Data is collected every hour and submitted and recorded in a computerized database.

How a donation will help:

Any additional funding would enable us to bring back the staff at home and pay staff salaries -- even if everyone receives 50% salary, at least they are receiving some form of income and their working conditions are safe due to enough relief staff. The rhinos need to be protected, we cannot do this without rangers on the job.

Effects of the pandemic:

Rhino Fund Uganda's main source of income is tourism, which stopped completely in March due to the pandemic. The rhinos on Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary are the only wild rhino in Uganda, therefore security and the monitoring of the rhino must continue without fail. Forty staff members were sent home on no pay, and are still at home. The rest of the staff have been working on half pay since 1 April 2020. They are working longer hours, for lower pay, and remain 100% committed to ensuring rhinos stay safe and data is collected 24/7. Long hours and difficult circumstances are taking their toll on the rangers—we need to bring the rest of the staff back to provide relief. Over and above all of this, the staff remain committed, willing and with high morale.

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Tusk is registered with JustGiving in the UK (or GoFundMe.com in the USA). Our online fundraising sites allow you to create a sponsorship form with easy access for your supporters, knowing their money is going directly to Tusk. UK tax-paying donors can enhance their contribution by agreeing to Gift Aid their sponsorship (for every £10 you raise, Tusk will receive another £2.50 from the Government provided you are a UK taxpayer). US supporters wishing to make a tax deductible donation can do so via GoFundMe.com

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