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Our Next Chapter

It began with one blind rhino, and grew into a vision for an entire species.

The Shannon Elizabeth Foundation was built on a simple promise: when vulnerable animals need us, we show up.

What began as an urgent response to the black rhino poaching crisis has grown into something much bigger. We are now about to acquire our own land, where a crash of many rhinos will be in our care going forward, alongside countless other animals who need us.

We can’t share the details just yet, but we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead!

The rhino
who changed everything

In 2019, a black rhino bull named Munu was found blind and struggling in Addo Elephant National Park. Working with SANParks and a private landowner, we stepped in to give him the safe place he needed at the time. Recently, after heavy rains, Munu left his camps and proved he can navigate and feed himself on his own. He no longer needs our care, which is the best outcome we could have hoped for, and it’s time for us to help many more animals in need.

We’ve learned so much over the past five years, and we’re taking all of it with us into our next, very exciting chapter.

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Just some of what we built…
Our first phases proved what a small, committed team can do:

  • Built off-grid solar power and water treatment systems
  • Built accommodation and operational facilities for rangers and anti-poaching teams
  • Expanded road networks and installed state-of-the-art access control
  • Strengthened perimeter fencing and built purpose-built bomas
  • Created four large secure camps, including a major expansion for natural browse
  • Installed an advanced camera network with license plate recognition and thermal imaging for 24/7 protection
  • Added guest tents with proper beds for conservation partners and supporters

Why the need is greater than ever

Every year, rhinos are orphaned by poaching, and countless other animals are injured, displaced or left without anyone to care for them. Too often, there’s nowhere equipped to treat them and see them all the way through to release. Munu showed us what’s possible when one animal gets a second chance. Now we want to give that same chance to many more, with the care, protection and space they need to recover and return to the wild.

Our expanded vision
Shaped by conservation partners, local communities and wildlife experts, our next chapter goes far beyond one animal. On our own land, we will build a home for a growing crash of rhinos, a specialty wildlife hospital, and the protection and community programs a project this size demands.

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OUR NEXT CHAPTER

Our new home will bring rescue, veterinary care, rehabilitation and rewilding together in one place, so every animal in our care has a clear path from crisis to recovery to freedom.

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RESCUE
Rapid response and first-responder care for rhinos and other wildlife in crisis.
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RESCUE
Rapid response and first-responder care for orphaned rhino calves and other wildlife in crisis, whether from poaching, illness, injury, or natural causes. The goal is a team ready to stabilize animals the moment they need help.
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RECOVER
Working toward a specialty wildlife hospital with the expertise to treat complex cases.
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RECOVER
The dream is a specialty wildlife hospital with the surgical capacity, diagnostics, and veterinary expertise to treat rhinos and the many other species that need care. In time, the hope is that it can also help domestic animals in the surrounding community, because healthy communities and healthy wildlife go hand in hand.
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REHABILITATE
Expert care that rebuilds strength and natural behavior.
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REHABILITATE
Once treated, animals move into rehabilitation designed around their species, with limited human contact to prevent imprinting, so they regain the strength and instincts they need to survive in the wild.
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REWILD
Returning animals and land to the wild.
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REWILD
Rewilding gives rescued animals and damaged land a second chance. Through soft release, animals adjust gradually in protected areas before returning to a fully wild life, with expert veterinary oversight and long-term monitoring. At the same time, the land itself is restored by clearing alien vegetation and bringing back native plants and healthy ecosystems, so wildlife can thrive for generations to come.
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RANGE EXPANSION
Room to roam for rhinos and other wide-ranging species.
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RANGE EXPANSION
For rhinos and other wide-ranging species to survive long into the future, they need room to roam. Acquiring neighboring land and connecting protected habitats into corridors reduces isolation, supports genetic diversity, and builds resilient populations, while former farming and hunting land is restored to its natural state. Every acre protected is an acre that stays wild instead of being developed. This work will be done hand in hand with neighbors, conservation partners, public agencies, and local communities.
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COMMUNITY & YOUTH
Lasting protection starts with people and the next generation.
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COMMUNITY & YOUTH
Lasting protection for wildlife starts with people. As the Foundation's core work takes shape, the hope is to create job and career opportunities that support neighboring communities and the land for generations to come. Animal Avengers, the Foundation's new youth program, is also launching soon, because the future of conservation depends on educating and inspiring the next generation now.

WAYS YOU
CAN HELP

If you are a donor, landowner, researcher, brand or community leader and you care about rhinos, wildlife rescue and veterinary care, rehabilitation and rewilding, ranger protection, land restoration, community programs, and our youth, we’d love to work with you. Help us secure the land, build the hospital, and bring our rhinos home.

Contact us below and sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date.

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