[Submitted via press release]
The public opened their hearts yesterday (19 April) during an auction of Neil Pauw’s painting and pledged an incredible R570 000 towards the training of tracker dogs that will assist in Jacaranda FM’s anti rhino poaching efforts.
The event took place at Jacaranda FM’s studio in Montecasino and the band surprised the public with several live performances in the studio. Three tracker dogs created huge excitement with the public when they arrived and seemed very comfortable with their newly found celebrity status as people queued to take pictures with them.
The campaign kicked off in March when the painting was part of the The Wild’s storyline on M-Net. It was also auctioned to raise money to train tracker dogs and Itumeleng (played by Shona Ferguson) paid R80 000 for the painting.
The writers thought that the amount would be a realistic figure as it costs R40 000 to train one dog. Little did they know that the painting attracted 7 times more pledges from a caring public.
Real life drama unfolded on air during the Martin Bester Drive when The Parlotones and cast members from The Wild answered phones to take pledges from the public. The highest pledger was rewarded the painting that the hunky drummer Neil Pauw, specifically painted to raise money for anti rhino poaching campaigns.
Michelle Bradshaw (Lindsay in The Wild) said that the kids who phoned to pledge R20 touched her the most. “They pledged their pocket money for the month, because they want to see Rhinos when they grow up”. An emotional Faye Peters (Bernie) who is also an avid conservationist can’t stop thanking the public. “This is
really going to make a difference”
Drama unfolded when two companies tried to outbid each other in the final seconds of the show. The top pledgers were Clippa Sales (R 200 000),
Demacon Market Research (R 125 000) and Putco (R 75 000).
Clippa and Demacon started around R50 000 and upped their stakes as the day progressed, but the real frenzy came in the final seconds when Clippa increased their amount from R120 000 to a staggering R200 000.
Parlotones’ lead singer Kahn Morbee said that rhinos belong to all South Africans and the people of South Africa showed that they care, and that as a united force we can achieve amazing things. “I hope that in 20 years we still have a thriving population of an iconic symbol of our society and that in some way this event was a major catalyst for Rhino conservation. The struggle is far from over but we showed that we're prepared to fight back”
Pauw added that its really amazing to know that so many people’s hearts go out to our endangered Rhinos. “When I got into the Jacaranda studio my nerves were on a high. The painting was standing in view of all to see. I had high hopes of it being able to attract at least enough funds for 2 dogs. All I can say is " WOW!!! " The amount pledged by all the awesome supporters for the cause way exceeded our expectations. What a great achievement. The only thing I could do at the end of the day was to walk away in a daze of surprise and a huge smile on my face from ear to ear”.
The Wild has covered the anti rhino poaching topic since episode one and Jacaranda FM has led the struggle against rhino poaching since 2010 in collaboration with
Stoprhinopoaching.com, regional parks and the Rhino Management Group.
They have done so through various interventions such as anti-poaching unit and field ranger training, supply of equipment, vehicles, on-going education and awareness. The tracker dogs project is the next step to take these efforts further, by providing further support for those at the front line.