DART Donor Community
The Hwange Conservation Society (UK) has been with us since the beginning…
In the year 2000 when DART was first established, the Chairman of the HCS-(UK) Mr John Gillon and his committee presented DART with a brand new Daninject JM Dart Rifle plus a selection of wildlife darts, immobilizing drugs and darting equipment. More than twenty years later we’re still using that same dart rifle to rescue wild animals today.
Over the last two decades the HCS-(UK) has faithfully supported DART Wildlife Rescue. With the help of the HCS-(UK) and this Daninject dart rifle, DART has been able to save the lives of countless snared and injured wild animals in and around Hwange National Park……
The SAVE African Rhino Foundation (Aus) has also been with us since 2000…
Although rhino conservation is the primary focus for the donor support provided by SARF, their Chairman Nicholas Duncan and his committee have always had a special relationship with DART. Through fundraising events and personal donations from individual SARF members, DART has been able to remain operational during some extremely difficult political and economic periods in Zimbabwe. As a result many snared wild animals in Hwange owe their lives to the support received from SARF over the last 20 years.
Over the last few years The Friends of Hwange (Zim) has become one of our most committed donors and DART is hugely grateful for their ongoing support.
Thanks to the relentless fundraising efforts carried out by FOH Chairman Mr. Dave Dell and his committee, the FOH has provided much of the essential financial and material support needed by the DART/Ukhozi Snare Removal Team to carry out their regular operational activities including snare removal patrols and anti-poaching Ranger deployments.
FOH have also facilitated the supply of essential wildlife immobilizing drugs that has enabled DART to rescue, remove snares and treat the injured wild animals of Hwange National Park.
Patrick Jacquemin
(FONDS DE DOTATION ANIMAUX SAUVAGES)
The founder of Rue du Commerce and President of the Wild Animals Endowment Fund, Mr. Patrick Jacquemin has been one of the most significant donors to DART over many years. The financial and material support received from Mr. Jacquemin through the Fonds de Dotation Animaux Sauvages helped to keep DART operational through the turbulent years in Zimbabwe when the socio-economic fabric of the country was stretched to the limit.
DART will always be grateful to Patrick for his personal commitment to wildlife conservation in Hwange and his selfless contributions made to DART.
The support DART has received from Dr. James Thompson and his Turramurra Vet Hospital in Australia pre-dates all the other donors.
On many of his trips to Zimbabwe, Dr Thompson would spend a great deal of his personal time freely assisting DART with the rescue of snared and injured wildlife in and around Hwange National Park. Then on his return to Australia he would continue to make regular personal donations and actively raise funds for DART Wildlife Rescue.
Thanks to James’s enthusiastic support and ongoing fundraising DART has been able to rescue, monitor and protect countless wild animals over the years.
Andy Huyton (PERSONAL DONOR)(UK)
As a tourist on his first visit to Zimbabwe in the late 1990’s Andy fell in love with the wildlife of Hwange and has been a regular visitor ever since.
In addition to sharing some very close encounters and unforgettable wildlife capture experiences with him, DART will be forever grateful to Andy for the immense physical, financial and material contributions he’s made to DART in his personal capacity over the years that helped to keep DART operational and got us through some very lean and difficult times.
For his friendship, commitment and generous personal contributions, DART will be forever grateful to Andy Huyton.
In June 2020 Mr. Brian Courtenay of the Southern African Conservation Trust (SACT) and a small consortium of donors approached DART with a kind offer to support the DART/ Ukhozi Snare Removal Team.
More recently the SACT generously sponsored the Ukhozi Team’s membership with the Game Ranger’s Association of Africa (GRAA). This thoughtful gesture has ensured the well-being of the Ukhozi Team members and their families through the provision of adequate medical insurance cover in the event of accident, injury or death.
Because their fieldwork can involve close interactions with aggressive poachers, dangerous wild animals and poisonous snakes, this GRAA medical insurance cover is greatly appreciated by the men of the DART/Ukhozi Team.
PAST & PRESENT - DONORS & SUPPORTERS
Thanks to the kind support received from our many friends and supporters, DART has been able to rescue a vast number of wild animals and a wide variety of species ON YOUR BEHALF over the last two decades in Hwange National Park.
THANK YOU
SPECIAL PROJECTS - DONOR SUPPORT
Thanks to the ADDITIONAL Donor Support DART received from our SPECIAL PROJECTS DONORS over the years,
DART was able to assist National Park Ecologists collect vital data and previously unknown information on
the LEOPARD RESEARCH and ELEPHANT PROTECTION PROJECTS.
When the Hwange National Park Ecologists tasked DART with the responsibility of capturing and collaring leopards for their Hwange Leopard Project in 2003, DART was also given the challenge of trying to find generous donors willing to purchase several GPS Satellite Tracking Collars for the project.
It’s with deep gratitude therefore that DART wishes to formally acknowledge and thank these “leopard-loving” donors whose generous contributions helped Park Ecologists unlock a vast amount of previously unknown information and data on the secret lives and territorial movements of this study group of Leopards in Hwange National Park.
LEOPARD COLLAR DONORS
D. & E. Pocock
D. Little & Family
Dr. K. Hart
Dr. J. Thompson – Turramurra Vet Hospital
I. Litis & Family
M. Butcher – Imvelo Safaris
M. Larrieu.
N. Duncan.
Every rainy season many crop-raiding elephants are killed or wounded in rural farming areas bordering Hwange National Park. Despite the use of lethal management solutions, elephants are not easily dissuaded and continue to raid the ripening crops and lose their lives in retaliation for the agricultural losses.
In 2018 DART initiated a pilot Elephant Protection Project to try and mitigate these unnecessary losses by developing a low-impact, light plastic, non-lethal deterrent that could be fired from a dart rifle.
This non-lethal deterrent dart was very successful in chasing elephants out of fields at night but we then needed to know how long this effect lasted…ie. how effective it was at “keeping” a problem elephant away from ripening fields and ultimately to save it from being shot or killed. For this reason it was necessary to collar and track the movements of a potential crop-raiding elephant.
Without a moment’s hesitation the Credlin Family and the Bristow Family in Australia generously offered to help purchase a GPS Satellite Tracking Collar for the project. Thanks also to Elephanatics (Canada) for providing some essential operational funding and the HCS-(UK) who also contributed to this project with the generous purchase of a special transmitter tracking dart and night vision goggles to help us locate and follow elephants in the dark.
DART is pleased to report that three years later this GPS satellite Elephant collar is still operational. During this time it has helped DART and Park Ecologists monitor and keep this and other elephants safe over three crop-raiding seasons.
DART (and some happy elephant bulls) are indebted to the Credlin and Bristow Families (Australia), Elephanatics (Canada) and the HCS-(UK) for the funding and support they generously contributed to this project.
© DART Wildlife Rescue