Rhino conservationist and global ambassador against rhino poaching Cathy Dreyer has been appointed the first female head of conservation at Addo Elephant National Park. Dreyer received a Tusk Conservation award from Sir David Attenborough in 2016.
According to a statement released this week by SANParks, Dreyer is affectionately known as “the rhino whisperer” for her work with rhino and their protection.
“I am looking forward to supporting the park’s terrestrial and marine conservation efforts and feel incredibly privileged to be a part of such a passionate, dedicated and committed team of rangers,” Dreyer said in a statement released by SANParks this week.
Addo, the third largest park in the country with 182,000 hectares of land and 116,000 of Marine Protected Area, is home to the “Big 7” – elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, leopard and the southern right whale and great white shark i. Addo is the third-largest national park in the country and is comprised of a . It’s been a busy two weeks in the Park for Cathy, who spent her first week participating in her first aerial census as well as being involved in an elephant contraception exercise.
Dreyer said the highlight of her career was winning the Tusk award, the first South African recipient of the award and the first female to win it.
Watch video of Dreyer before the Tusk Awards:
Dreyer began at Addo 20 years ago but in 2012 became conservation manager at the Eastern Cape’s Great Fish River Nature Reserve. Five years later she returned to SANParks as the Black Rhino Surveillance and Monitoring Co-ordinator for Kruger National Park.
