Just under R30 000 has come in. Sports Coaching company Play Ball Durban North has generously signed a debit order for R1 500 a month over the next year: R18 000 in total. Thank you Play Ball Durban North! 

While Network Configurations - based in Westville - has also come on board with a R500 a month debit order - R6 000 over the next year.

Thank you's also go out to the following: Doon Heights Primary for a R3 000 donation; another Investec KZN staff member has pledged - this time R2 000; while B & J Calitz have given R200.

There are also numerous fund raisers being planned by East Coast listeners, as the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization's Yvette Taylor explains.

"It's quite exciting. A lot of people have made us their beneficiaries for their fundraising. We have guys doing all sorts of interesting things. For example, this week on Sunday the KZN car fanatics are having a rhino drive with all their suped-up cars.

"We an have a amazing sculptor who has done this beautiful work in bronze who is looking at donating some of the funds from that for this project.

"We have the South Coast group called Pay It Forward who are having a function next week, an online auction, again with funds coming to our rhino project. It's very encouraging that people are rolling out all these fundraising efforts and directing it to something like this," she said.

The bottom line from all of donations is that in the past week, R29 320 has come in, or has been pledged, bringing the total to R854 080.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife's chief rhino security officer Jabulani Ngubane says they're extremely grateful.

"We want to appreciate the support we receive from the public, specifically for KZN Rhino Watch. The situation could have been worse without the chopper. So thank you very much to East Coast, and the Earth Organisation and King Shaka Aviation as well for partnering with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife to re-introduce the chopper in the Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park and surrounding areas," he said.

Our pilot, Kyle Shuttleworth, who is based at Hluhluwe iMfolozi Park says over the past week it's been uneventful there - which is exactly the way we want things.

You'd recall that in last week's report back we had the sad news that a rhino had been found dead in the northern section of the Park.

Over the past weekend iSimangaliso Wetlands Park lost a white rhino to poaching. Ezemvelo's Jabulani Ngubane says the poachers have been hitting hard, but they intend winning this war in the long term.

"I would like to assure the public that we are doing everything we can to protect the rhinos in KZN, we are doing that without favor or fear.

"We have been in this business for 117 years. Implementing a strategy for the next five years, you might get positive signs in the first year, and then negative signs in the following year, and then positive signs in the remaining years. So what we need to do is be disciplined, stick to what we do best and do it to the best of our ability," he said.

KZN Rhino Watch needs your help to keep our chopper in the air. Click here to find out how you can get involved, and here for the full list of those who've already contributed. For info on the Rhino Drive mentioned above, email kzncarfanatics@gmail.com.