Unitrans sponsored more than R500 000 worth of equipment to the Addo Elephant National Park Rangers to use in their ongoing battle against poachers.

Unitrans sponsored more than R500 000 worth of equipment to the Addo Elephant National Park Rangers to use in their ongoing battle against poachers.

The SANParks Honorary Rangers, a group of volunteers who raise funds and provide services in support of South African National Parks (SANParks), facilitated the sponsorship.

The sponsorship comprises binoculars, tents and sleeping bags, backpacks and chest webbing. Unitrans also sponsored various monitoring systems in Addo Elephant National Park, including cameras, which are placed in field to detect threats to wildlife in the Park.

The sponsorship also covers helicopter flying time to aid monitoring of the park's wildlife and advanced training for selected rangers over the next few years.

At the handover, which took place at Addo's Main Camp, some of the Park's 88 rangers demonstrated their patrolling skills.The handover forms part of an ongoing national sponsorship agreement between Unitrans Volkswagen and Audi Division and the SANParks Honorary Rangers, which was officially launched in September 2011. For each new and used vehicle retailed at the 13 participating Unitrans dealerships, R500 is donated to assist counter-poaching efforts at SANParks.