The Wailers Play in Cape Town to Support the Rhino

by DRW
(Jamaica)

Reggae stars The Wailers will take time out from their world tour to play the Stand Up! concert on Friday, 27 April, 2012, at Trinity nightclub, Cape Town, to help save endangered rhinos. They will be supported by The Rudimentals, Fox Comet, Mix n Blend, and Dino Psaras.

The concert is the brainchild of Damien Vergnaud, owner of Inverdoorn Game Reserve and Iziba Safari Lodge and founder of RhinoProtect, the organisation that Stand Up! will support. RhinoProtect was born out of desperation when it became clear to Vergnaud that the three rhinos at Inverdoorn were under imminent threat of poaching.

"We had been considering for a long time what more could be done to safeguard our three rhinos when nearby game reserve Fairy Glen's rhinos were poached," said Vergnaud. "That shocked us into action and we took the controversial decision to treat the horns with a substance that would firstly make it hard to smuggle through airports and secondly, if ingested, could result in severe illness in humans."

With the success of the treatment in warding off potential poachers thus far, the mandate of RhinoProtect has since expanded to offer the treatment to other game reserves around the country to help protect more rhinos. As a result, the concept of a concert to raise the much-needed funds was born. The concert will have a triple function: raise awareness, raise the necessary funds for RhinoProtect, and raise the roof with a sublime reggae party. FULL STORY