Exodus urges travellers to join Tom Hardy’s war against poaching

With BAFTA award-winning actor Tom Hardy’s new ITV series ‘Poaching Wars’  causing a stir, leading UK adventure tour operator, Exodus, speaks out about the plight of the rhino and urges travellers to join the fight against poaching through responsible tourism.

In the new ITV series, actor Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) travels to South Africa, Botswana and Tanzania aiming to uncover the truth about why poaching has reached crisis levels* and to see for himself what can be done to stop the killing.

While Tom Hardy joins an armed anti-poaching training session, Exodus is urging travellers to champion sustainable tourism over vigilante action.

Exodus offers special departures on its South Africa:Wildlife of Kruger trip, where travellers join local vet and rhino expert, Dr. Rogers, and his team to assist in the monitoring, ear-notching and micro-chipping of one of the 130 resident white rhinos.

 “We believe education and firm legal action are key to stopping poaching. Exodus’ project enables us to identify illegal poaching in a court of law and convict the poachers for their crime when they are caught. This sends a very clear and strong message to potential poachers in the future and offers our travellers a much better understanding of these magnificent animals.” said Rupert Calcott, the ground operator for Exodus.

Here are a selection of Exodus’ wildlife trips in Africa, which aim to protect wildlife through conservation and educating local communities:

South Africa:Wildlife of Kruger

During this safari trip through Kruger, travellers visit the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which relies on donations and revenue from tourism to fund numerous projects. These include rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife to release them back into the wild, breeding endangered animals to release them into the wild and environmental education. Next departure 16 November. Priced from £2,049 per person for 9 days, including flights, accommodation and game drives costs.

South African Walking Safari

This trip allows travellers to get closer to nature on a series of game drives and walking safaris through South Africa’s national parks. Exodus uses locally trained guides, to directly benefit the local communities. The trip spends several nights in Nature Reserves (Kruger National Park, Malolotja Nature Reserve, Mkuzi Game Reserve and Edeni Game Reserve) where paid fees go directly towards conservation. Next departure 29 November 2013. Priced from £2,499 per person for 17 days, including flights, accommodation and most meals.

Get involved: Zambia

Exodus’ ‘Get involved’ trips allow travellers to assist on a project and benefit local communities, whilst enjoying the best sights and activities the region has to offer. On this trip, travellers head south to the banks of Lake Kariba, the world’s largest man-made lake, to help at a local school, assisting with manual work and teaching English and sport. Next up is Livingstone, where travellers stay in a water fronted lodge, situated just four kilometres from the mighty and imposing Victoria Falls. Moving on from Livingstone, travellers cross the nearby border into Botswana where they spend two nights in Chobe National Park enjoying its abundant wildlife. Next departure 8 September 2013. Priced from £2,999 per person for 11 days, including flights, accommodation and some meals.

Notes to Editor

*At the beginning of the 20^th century, there were 500,000 rhinos across Africa and Asia. This fell to 70,000 by 1970 and further to just 29,000 in the wild today. South Africa is home to 83% of Africa’s rhinos and 73% of all wild rhinos worldwide and is an incredibly important country for rhino conservation. However rhino poaching has reached a crisis point, and if the killing continues at this rate, we could see rhino deaths overtaking births in 2016-2018, meaning rhinos could go extinct in the very near future.

Source: www.savetherhino.org