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WILDERNESS CONSERVANCY › PROJECTS › Antipoaching Aircraft › Ongava Game Reserve | ||||||
Ongava Game Reserve:
http://www.ongava.com & http://www.savetherhinotrust.org One Bellanca 8GCBC "Scout" was donated and delivered in 2017 by Wilderness Conservancy. Ongava is a 68,000-acre game reserve situated along the southern boundary of Etosha National Park, Namibia's premier game reserve that borders Angola from which rhino and elephant poachers come. It is one of the largest private game reserves in Namibia, with over 125 square miles to cover. Lions, black and white rhinos, elephants, giraffe and several stunning species of antelope, including rare black-faced impala, are at home on the reserve and need protection.
You can Join Us and help deliver more antipoaching aircraft to parks and reserves in Africa. Most parks and game reserves in Africa are owned and funded by their respective governments. By the same token, those venues are pressed for funds and place light aircraft on the bottom of the list. The wanton killing of rhino and elephants is rampant in those reserves. However, in those reserves where Wilderness Conservancy has placed antipoaching aircraft, poachers are much easier to spot from the air and, when spotted, radio contact with rangers on the ground are nearly 100% effective in taking the killers into custody. Wilderness Conservancy provides light aircraft and antipersonnel training to the pilots who fly our aircraft. The reserves pay only for fuel and maintenance. This American Champion 8GCBC Scout is the aircraft Wilderness Conservancy donated and delivered to Ongava Game Reserve. It has long range fuel tanks and a work range of about 1,000 miles. It is a very valuable asset in Namibia.
In years gone by Wilderness Conservancy has furnished as many aircraft such as the Scout as financially possible. Good, used aircraft are selected so as to keep the prices as low as reasonably possible. The price of a very good used Scout approximates $125,000.00, and the aircraft use only 6 to 8 gallons of fuel per hour. Two years ago, Wilderness Conservancy heard about a new Light Sport Aircraft being manufactured in South Africa. It is a BatHawk and new only costs $50,000.00. It uses only about 4 gallons per hour. Wilderness Conservancy has to date put two BatHawk aircraft into antipoaching operation, both in Mozambique, and they have produced excellent results and very low cost. 100% of ALL DONATIONS will go SOLEY to the
project.
December 2018 ~ Our latest news from Ongava: "The Scout has been fully operational
up at Ongava and is making a huge impact on our protection of our Rhinos
both Black and white numbering over one hundred. We have flown close to 100 hours on active patrol and the support to our
anti poaching ground team has been great , 'The Spirit of Steele' also
helped in containing a fire which started as a result of a lightning strike.
For the last month and a half the Scout has been on active duty patrolling our boundary and on occasions to the adjacent farms on the south of Etosha in an area called the Rhino belt which is a grouping of land owners trying to protect Rhinos. Some of the farms have had bad poaching losing 6 Black Rhinos. So as you can see the Scout has been a great deterrent and is on continuous active duty."
The Scout, the ""Spirit of Steele”, has a history. Nick Steele was the Director of the KwaZulu Department of Wildlife for many years until his life ended all too soon. Nick was my good pal. I had provided N17RC to Nick’s care and use and it was flown for about 6 years in his department by a very excellent pilot, Brian Katz. When Nick died, I wanted to memorialize him and thus named the Scout “Spirit of Steele”. I posted that memorial on the Scout with Nick’s wonderful wife, Nola, present along with Ian Player, Derek Savage and, I believe, Daryl Mann and Brian Katz, and others present at a ceremony at Virginia Airport in Durban. Nick used the Scout very effectively and Brian caused a lot of bad guys to be located and captured. I believe that the Scout will serve Ongava, Etosha and other deserving wildlife projects well for many more years."
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