HOEDSPRUIT – “The dinosaur-like appearance of a rhino shows its efficiency in the wild. But it is their vulnerable status that has always appealed to me. It carries a message that is applicable to all our wildlife: only humans are a true threat to our wild life heritage,” said WildAid ambassador Joe Pietersen.

Well-known as a tenacious fullback for the Sharks, Joe is also renowned for his on-the-ground work to save rhinos and other animals threatened by wildlife crime. He is co-founder of Nkombe Rhino, a non-profit organisation set up to protect the rhinos of the Blue Canyon Conservancy near Hoedspruit.

Joe recently visited the Thula Thula  Reserve in Zululand to discuss anti- poaching strategies with visiting experts.  He visited their on-site rhino  orphanage  with his family. He teaches his kids how  you care for mother  nature is your way of  paying “rent” on earth.

Government intervention to address the  rhino-poaching dilemma is  important to him.

 “If corruption can be eliminated, only then we would have come a long way. Too often officials are caught pocketing proceeds when they’re supposed to be part of of the front line,” he said.

“If government can take a stand and enforce strict legislation on everything from convictions of poachers to the protection of our animals, it’ll be another win for conservation.”

He feels that we should look at the long term sustainability of our wildlife. “Turning our wildlife, especially endangered wildlife, into a commodity, like hunting, seems very lucrative. Looking at the bigger picture, it’s however only a drop in the tourism ocean. In many cases making money out of wild life contributes to their hardships.”

Together with Martin Meyer, co-founder of Nkombe Rhino, he is currently on a quest to unite the rhino fraternity.

To this end, while at Thula Thula, his goal was also to investigate how combined efforts to combat poaching would be possible.

Like on the rugby field, it is not all easy going when he gets to do some work with the rangers.

He was recently charged by a white rhino. Like a true fullback on the attack he decided to ignore the “Whatever you do, don’t run!” advice usually meted out when faced with wildlife on the charge, and made a run for it.

For this popular player there are a lot of similarities between a hard game of rugby and a day working with the rangers. “With both you get tested from every angle and your weaknesses are exposed quickly. To him rhino orphans are the sad aftermath of poaching. “Most of them are scarred for life. It is a moving experience in every sense to sit with them for a while.”

From August this year Joe will play rugby in Japan. He is looking forward to see the other side of the coin, as Asia is the biggest consumer of black-market rhino horn.