TG Newsletter: ANTIPANTS - ANTIPOACHING

AntiPants - AntiPoaching

(21 February 2021)

Life is strange, unusual, bizarre, peculiar, weird. It’s inexplicable, incomprehensible. Life does not make sense…

Why don’t we get a choice if we want to be born or not? How are we the dominant species, even though we are physically the weakest? Why do we destroy what we need to survive? Life just does not make sense…

Because we live within the constraints of time, we are conservative. We safeguard ourselves and always seek ways to extend our lives. Yet, by attempting to prolong a perfect youth, we grow old before getting to be young. Why should we hold back when life is a one-way street? What are we all saving ourselves for?

(Life Hack: nurture a reputation of being odd, you’ll be amazed what it lets you get away with!)

Being of the preposterous persuasion, Tank Girls do things a bit differently. Most of our undertakings will never make sense to the self-preservation-army. Like riding 70cc pit bikes from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Taking a road-bike up Orrie Baragwanath pass. Riding into Pafuri in the sweltering heat of summer with only Jack Daniels in our camelbaks. We rarely consider the consequences of our actions. Who does that?!?

Death has decided he does not need such unfathomable chaos in the hereafter. And since we are all just passing the time until our expiry date, we’ve decided to teach the mortals of earth about this life skill called ‘not making sense’.

Thusly, the ANTIPANTS - ANTIPOACHING phenomenon was founded four years ago.

How much sense does it make to ride around in your underpants in support of an endangered animal? Raising funds and awareness for its plight. It makes no sense whatsoever… yet, it creates some understanding!

I don't think that people accept life’s senselessness. I think it makes them terribly uncomfortable, especially when certain nonsensical souls prance around in their underwear. But once you start seeing this place for the madhouse it is, you can't unsee it. It's everywhere and in everyone. It doesn't make any sense. But everything doesn’t need a reason, and neither does life.

This year we decided to support the pachyderms, elephants, Loxodonta, stertjievanagterenstertjievanvoor.

We are donating all proceeds to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. Synonymous with elephant conservation much like an elephant is the embodiment of Africa.

Established more than 40 years ago, they are best known for their orphaned elephant project, the first and most successful elephant orphan rescue and rehabilitation program in the world. They also incorporate all measures to protect wildlife including anti-poaching, safeguarding the natural environment, enhancing community awareness and providing veterinary assistance to animals in need.

By March 2017, the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust had made more than 2 800 arrests and removed in excess of 140 000 snares.

Their anti-poaching teams cover a vast 60 000 km², and a mobile unit operates throughout the rest of Kenya. These teams are outfitted with vehicles, camping equipment, radios, GPS units and cameras, patrolling daily to combat elephant and rhino poaching.

They also operate a specialist canine unit with three Belgian Malinois dogs, trained to detect and track illegal wildlife products such as ivory, rhino horn and bush meat, as well as guns and ammunition.

The poaching statistics are staggering!

From a population of approximately 26 million in the beginning of the 19th century, only around 400 000 elephants remain in the wild today. They’re being massacred at an alarming rate: it is estimated that poachers kill 96 African elephants every single day – one elephant every 15 minutes!

Home to more than 130 000 animals, Botswana is the last stronghold for Africa’s elephants. Yet, every year 35 000 elephants are slaughtered in Botswana ALONE.

Elephant poachers often favour poisoned arrows over rifles for their stealth, in the hopes of avoiding authorities. They typically poach the elephants solely for their tusks and are therefore not concerned with poisoning the meat.

Ivory is used exclusively for ornaments, piano keys and jewelry – superfluous trinkets that only materialistic humans are inclined to enjoy. Killing a silent beast just to create a monstrous melody. Any sense in that?

The human race may be an extraordinary species, capable of producing movies and electric razors and guns with which to shoot the rhino, the elephant, and each other. Regrettably, the latter is in no danger of ever becoming extinct.

We are the only life form that can affix purpose to our lives. Then why, if we are so driven to excel, do we aim for a merely ephemeral reward? We want to bring comfort to our immediate presence with no regard for future existence. We profess to love our children without serious consideration to pass on to them a prosperous planet. Are we that shameless?

Elephants are some of the most social, sentient and empathetic animals. All qualities we as human beings (should) strive to possess, but by poaching them to extinction, we only prove that we are but ignorant nobodies in comparison to these gentle giants.

As they slowly sway through the bush, they command a calm stillness classically reserved for mountain peaks, great fires, and the sea. Why do we disrespect them? Is it because we know that after humans have vanished from this earth, the mountains will keep on rising, fires will keep on blazing, and seas will keep on rolling?

“In the conflict between the largest animals and the biggest animals in animal kingdom, few humans but almost all elephants are most likely to die soon.” *Srinivas Mishra*

I challenge you to make your life less sensible, less of a struggle, less conformed, because these things do not make anybody feel better. Therefore, changing it makes more sense than it used to.

*Thanx to the official photographer, Hannelie van Schalkwyk (and anyone else whose photos we’ve used)*

CHIKITA PRODUCTIONS PRESENT:

It makes no sense, yet every year we have more and more bikers joining the AntiPants – AntiPoaching event to raise awareness; this year for the elephants. We have the regulars, we have the brave, we have the jolly, and then there’s the ‘you need to get a fresh broek’ bikers. It makes us proud to see so many charity-boude. Keep exposing – keep riding!

Video produced by Jolandi Mentz (21 Feb 2021)

https://youtu.be/HiQOsJVcfY8

HONESTY NEWSLETTER!

We’ve already showed off our g-strings, our boxers, and out jock straps, but there is still time to make a donation to save an elephant. Mark your donation with the word ELLIE, and we will make a payment to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust at the end of the month.

As requested by my overseas readers, you can donate to this newsletter on my PayPal account: skinny@tankgirls.co.za

OR...

You can do an EFT transfer to the account below.