Mark has always had a great love for animals and nature. He still sees the turtle as one of his favourite animals, but he also likes many other reptiles.
Mark travelled to Africa several times and was captivated by the vast continent and its many animals. Seeing the rhinoceros in the wild for the first time made a deep impression on Mark, so seeing the effects of rhino poaching impacted him dearly.
With Mark’s vast knowledge of IT facets, he decided to make a difference, creating a website with all kinds of facts about the rhino and through this same website raising money to support the rhino.
In South Africa, Mark volunteered in various branches. Both directly with the rhinoceros and school projects with children. With his IT and technology drive, he made many films to make people aware of the problems surrounding rhino poaching back in the Netherlands. On one of these volunteer trips, Mark and Simon met and contact was made. Through this contact, the Dutch branch of the foundation was created together with Marloes, and Mark has been a member of the Helping Rhinos team ever since.