It has been awhile since I have been able to update.  After I recovered from running the marathon and raised just over three thousand dollars from friends, family and colleagues, I sent the money to the organizations that are on the front lines in Africa, combatting the poachers on a daily basis. Since then,  I have been getting a steady stream of updates from several places in Africa,  and the numbers are staggering. Since January 2012, two months before I ran the marathon, 430 rhinos have been poached in South Africa alone. It averages out to two every 24 hours on the continent, which surely means they will become extinct in our lifetime if we do not stop this senseless slaughter. If we can set ourselves an attainable  goal of preserving them for at least one generation, perhaps our children can take up the cause when they are old enough. The picture was drawn by my seven year old daughter.

In light of this critical situation, I am hosting a fundraising/awareness raising event in conjunction with Stephen Ham of the African Wildlife Foundation:
           
  October 23rd, 2012 
 at The Phoenix 
14 South La Cienega Blvd 
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
                7pm


CLICK HERE for the invitation and please join us for a brief presentation and an opportunity to help stop the eradication of a noble species.

MARATHON COMPLETED

Well, I did it. My official time was four hours and eleven minutes. I am walking like Frankenstein, but I feel tremendous! I will say that I had ZERO sleep the night before and somehow managed to finish, despite the last six miles being as torturous and anything I have ever experienced. Out of body comes to mind....
Thanks to all of you who donated, it really gave me the extra push that I needed-knowing that we are all working to prevent this incredible species from going extinct.
More updates to come, have to go stretch my quads..

Good News, Bad News

Good News: we raised almost a thousand dollars last night! Formal thank you notes will go out after I complete this race. Also, the rain may not come after all.
Bad news: two suspects in custody in a Jonhannesburg jail may go free for lack of a reliable translator. Evidently the one they have down there has been a no show, twice. Her flakiness, I conjecture, makes me wonder if outside pressure is being applied to encourage her absence, giving the judge no alternative but to drop the case.  Read the article HERE and if you haven't donated yet, there is still time!!

South Africa Limits Reporting of Poaching?

READ HERE and decide for yourself. Is it suspicious or expedient to limit the reporting to one national agency? I have to say, it is naive of the government to question our suspicion with such a corrupt and convoluted issue as rhino poaching. The people on the front lines don't trust it, and neither should we.
With unofficial reports of over 100 rhinos poached in the last two months, I think we have the right to know what is going on when it happens and not in a sanitized report at the end of each month. This is a war and it needs to be treated as such.
I run for rhinos on Sunday, rain or shine! Donate today!

Short Film Worth Watching

Also saw a short film that is gut wrenching but needs to be seen.

The Price- Trailer from matt fife: director on Vimeo.

Trophy Hunting Legal but Killing for "Medicinal Purposes" is not?

I ran the last long run this morning, 8 miles, and forgot to tape my chest. The blood seeping through my shirt is a reminder in a weird way of all the blood that has been shed for one simple reason: greed. While greed does keep people motivated on some level, it also makes people do things that are truly shameful. Shame is also a motivator in its own right, so perhaps that really is the key to solving this issue.
This article on NPR shows how complicated it all is. Read it and ask yourself  why it is legal to trophy hunt but not to tranquilize the rhino and take its horn? Neither should be legal if the animal in endangered, period. The discussion is obviously ongoing, as is the fight to protect what rhinos are left.Please donate today! Eight days until the race!

Cancer Cure- NOT

The recent surge in the price and demand for rhino horn is sadly due to a rumor that it cures cancer. It does not. All of the experts, Eastern and Western alike, will tell you that  rhino horn does not cure cancer. So how to reach people who are stockpiling it and believing  it will keep them or their loved ones alive?
Tell them about Ban Zhi Lian. The FDA did clinical trials and found that there was evidence that certain types of cancer were helped with this amazing herb.
The race is the days away! Please donate today!