Late in 2011, a group of people came together and decided to do something to create awareness in the Cape Town area regarding the poaching scourge affecting our South African Rhino population. At that stage, the known number of rhinos differed, depending who you spoke to, but was hovering around the 450 mark.

The “Planting Crosses for Fallen Rhino” group decided to ask Ward Councillor, JameVos, if crosses could be planted in memory of the poached rhinos at the Fynbos Reserve on Bosmansdams Road, Bothasig. Because full moon is the worst time for the rhinos (the poachers can see better at night without artificial light giving their position away), it was decided that 450 crosses would be planted on the last full moon of the year, and that was 10 December 2011.

The group used their annual bonuses to buy some wood, and Johan Stapelberg from Builders Warehouse Tygerberg, and his staff kindly made the crosses free of charge as part of their CSI initiative. The crosses were made in record time and delivered to the site on the morning of 10 December.

Although the crosses were intended for single use, the figures started climbing so fast in 2012, that again Ward Councillor Ald. James Vos was approached, this time requesting permission to leave the crosses as a permanent reminder of the daily murder of these magnificent beasts, and crosses have subsequently been added every full moon since February.

However, due to the increasing number of poaching, crosses were rapidly running out, and the wood was not doing well in the Cape Town winter. A more permanent solution, and also more crosses were needed.

Dave Morley, owner of Total Control Electric Wholesalers in Bothasig, kindly donated 600 meters of conduit, and 600 connectors, to enable them to make 600 plastic crosses.

The group removed the 300 wooden crosses that were on the site and replaced them with the plastic crosses on the 26 August full moon, and also on the 31 August full moon which was a blue moon event - this occurs when there are 2 full moons in the same month.

All interested parties are encouraged to join in on every full moon. Children are more than welcome and are specifically encouraged to get involved.

For more information on the group, what they do and when they do it, please visit their Facebook page “PLANTING CROSSES FOR FALLEN RHINO.”