More muscle on the ground for rhinos
Well-known veterinary surgeon, Dr. Axel Hartmann joined the Save the Rhino Trust Namibia as its Chief Operating Officer, to ensure the efficiency of rhino protection on the ground.
“At this critical time, when the rhinos are in dire need of our support, Axel is taking his commitment to an even higher, more demanding level. For this, the Board of SRT is most grateful” the chairman continued. SRT is restructuring and redeploying teams throughout the region and strengthening its staff to ensure that it remains an effective and reliable key partner in a multifaceted, multi-stakeholder rhino protection activities in the region. The SRT board said Hartmann’s appointment is vital to these efforts. As Chief Operations Officer of SRT, Hartmann is responsible for streamlining operations, working in close collaboration with the SRT CEO, Simson Uri-Khob. Hartmann has underscored his commitment to this full-time position at SRT by closing his Otjiwarongo veterinary practice that he ran successfully for 26 years. Reflecting back to the formative days of SRT in 1982 when the rhinos of the Kunene region were nearly wiped out by poachers and army generals, Hartmann said, “I feel it is my duty to be true to the vision that Blythe and Rudi (Loutit) and Mike (Hearn) had, which they followed humbly without concern for their personal comfort zone, and that is to make sure that rhinos roamed freely – forever.” “It is time for me to live out this passion for rhinos in a meaningful way, but more importantly, timing is critical for the rhinos.”
