South Africa’s rhino poachers have a formidable, and adorable, new foe; eight-year-old Alyssa Carter. So far, her Alyssa’s Save the Rhinos campaign has raised $23,000 through the sale of homemade chocolates and rhino-themed products, and through donations from an ever growing number of supporters.
The funds will be used to buy sniffer dogs for Kruger National Park. The dogs, which cost about $8,000 to buy, train and kennel, will be put to work sniffing out illegal wildlife parts, guns, and even poachers on the run.
“When I heard that rhinos were being killed, they were my favorite animals and I wanted to start this,” Alyssa recently told CNN.
Her father says things got rolling in 2013, when Alyssa, then only six, burst out crying after learning that hundreds of South Africa’s rhinos are being slaughtered for their horns every year. She started selling homemade chocolates for 10 rand (about 85 cents each) to classmates in her Johannesburg school, her family members, and people at her church. In addition to raising money, she also speaks to groups about the importance of conserving rhinos.
Carter, who is South Africa National Parks’ one-and-only “Rhino Champion,” tells her story in the video below.
