Namibia: Rhino Safety Hotline to Be Launched

Environment and Tourism Minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah will launch a rhino security and poster SMS hotline today.

"This will enable the public to report any suspicious activity that threatens the safety of our natural heritage, specifically rhinos," the communications officer of the Strengthening the Protected Area Network Project (SPAN), Linda Baker, said in an invitation to the event.

The poster will be used to advertise the hotline and will be posted all over the country, especially at border posts, clinics, conservancies, ministries and tourism destinations, as well as in shebeens.

According to Baker, the hotline service has been made possible with the partnership of one of the country's cellular service providers, Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC).

Nandi-Ndaitwah will also give an overview of rhino security in the country.

Earlier this year, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Dr Kalumbi Shangula, said there was very little risk of the latest spate of rhino poaching in South Africa spreading to Namibia.

He was quoted by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) as saying that his ministry has been taking "the necessary precautions" to safeguard Namibia's rhino population. - Nampa

Thats a great idea for the rhinos that live near urban areas, but what about those with no cell coverage? Inmarsat?

How do they push those little buttons with those bloody great feet?

Rhino use rotary phones.