Howard Buffett, a son of the second-richest man in the U.S., paid for a helicopter to be used in anti rhino- poaching operations in South Africa’s Kruger National Park through a foundation in his name.
The Airbus AS-350B3e, capable of flying night patrols, that was delivered to South African National Parks is the second helicopter the Howard G. Buffett Foundation has sponsored for the organization, it said in a statement Thursday. The foundation added 37.7 million rand ($3.1 million) to initial funding of 254.8 million rand provided last year, which was used to support patrols and buy the first of the Airbus choppers in September, SANParks said.
Poachers killed a record 1,215 rhinos in South Africa last year, including 827 in the Kruger Park, up from a total of 1,004 in 2013. About 100 of the animals have been moved to neighboring states and out of areas considered vulnerable to poaching the park, which is about the size of Israel.
SANParks is also testing the use of drones in the fight against poachers in Kruger Park, it said.
Howard Buffett is a director at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., where his 84-year-old billionaire father Warren Buffett is chief executive officer.