Thandi and Thembi
Thandi and Colin
Thandi and Mthetho
Thandi and Siya
Thembi and Umkhosi
"My Reason"...
Thandi, Themba and Bull #84
Thandi, Themba and Bull # 84 are three rhinoceros who were poached on the 2nd of March 2012 at Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa. Bull # 84 died immediately. Thandi and Themba survived the initial attack and were left fighting for their lives.
“On that day I received a telephone call from my sister Urda who had been following the rhino crisis in South Africa very closely. She was devastated by the gruesome attack on these three rhinos. Her despair, her sadness and her words became etched in my mind and I embarked on a journey that would change my life forever…
That same day I began to read anything and everything I could find about the progress of these two rhinos, Thandi and Themba.
I forced myself to look at the brutal photos of their injuries. In horror I watched countless videos of other rhinos who had been poached and I was in terror about what was happening all around us.
I learned about ABSA, Geza, Lady, Higgins, Roccy and Clova and so many other rhinos who fell victim to poaching.
With tears in my eyes I followed the social media posts of Dr William Fowlds as he slowly and carefully fought to save Thandi and Themba's lives. I was so grateful to him for his dedication to the survival of these two rhinos.
I reviewed the rising statistics of rhinos killed by poaching and I knew, deep in my heart, that I could not sit back and watch this senseless cruelty in silence... I had to do something.
I wrote to Dr Fowlds, asking him how people like me could help and I will forever remember the words he wrote back:
“It is good to have a soft heart but better to have strong hands.”
That was it!
I knew that I must contribute...
And so our journey began… Tanja West
Themba
But before I got involved, the harsh reality of this cruelty hit me!
Themba had died…
He got stuck in the mud in a dam, and after a long struggle he drowned, not being able to keep his head above water…
I was devastated!
It was gut-wrenching to see the video (see below) of Themba lying next to Dr William Fowlds, and I felt so ashamed of what we as humans are capable of.
The sight of this beautiful iconic animal lying there and knowing that he simply did not have the strength to get up anymore stirred up so many emotions within me...
It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that Themba was no longer with us...
Thandi
Still grieving Themba’s death, I forced myself to keep faith for Thandi and I watched with amazement how she just got stronger and stronger! Then her story went viral and the world got to see the struggle of our rhinos through the video footage of Paul Mills, a great photographer and videographer.
This is her journey to recovery, our brave Thandi…
Today our Thandi is the mom of a Rhino "crash" ... a group of Rhino.. We are so proud of this Rhino lady! She got up, against all odds, she fought and now she has got a Rhino family of her own. Thandi, you are my reason!
Meeting Thandi
In July 2013, my husband Gérard and I headed off to the Eastern Cape, and to Kariega Game Reserve to finally meet the girl who started it for us. Our Special Star Thandi. We were greeted by a very friendly ranger who immediately got to work to find this special lady. Everyone around us was a bit nervous that she might hide away, however, I never realised any of this – I was so sure that we would see her and my excitement was very high. Our game ranger Ryan realised very quickly that this was a very important moment for us and within 15 minutes, we were lucky…
At first she was quite far away, then she came closer and closer, and after a while she was standing a mere 5 meters away from the vehicle and gave us a very intense look. I was ecstatic! Here we were with a survivor, the Rhino that carried the message out into the world, the brave soul who started our journey… and she was standing right next to us! I could not believe how trusting she was after the ordeal she endured at the hands of humans.
We spent a long time there, quietly just watching her roaming around the vehicle and we were soaking up her presence. Needless to say that our emotions ran very high… a day we will cherish forever.
Dancing for Rhinos, a team with passion...
As our passion for Rhinos was growing, we decided this was the cause we wanted to support.
Gérard’s love for cooking and my love for dancing would give us the opportunity to create something that we could do together, and so Dancing for Rhinos was born.
Dancing for Rhinos has become an annual fundraising gala event in Pretoria – a musical show including an exquisite three-course dinner. This function is hosted to raise funds for Rhino-related projects. We hosted our first show on 11 May 2013 and have been dancing for our Rhinos ever since.
The annual event is a huge team effort and has been driven by the dedication of many wonderful people and amazing mentors.
Many people ask me what can they do to help and I echo the words that Dr William Fowlds says: “What are you doing on a daily basis?”
Our focus is to involve more and more people and create not only awareness but also knowledge around all Rhino-related issues. We strive to acknowledge and motivate the heroes who deal with this terrible ordeal at the front line. We ensure that we constantly do research to stay informed and we assist our Rhinos by means of financial funding which we raise through our Dancing for Rhinos event.
We will strive to assist wherever we can by "Dancing for Rhinos".
You're my strength
I'll always be your voice.
We'll be that change
Forever in your name.
