ZAP-wing was established in 2012 and is a public / private partnership between Project Rhino and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. The Zululand anti-poaching wing is a vital anti-poaching intervention and has contributed to disturbances of poaching gangs and numerous arrests. It offers daily support for helicopter responses and airborne surveillance with fixed devices. With this it provides assistance to 26 state / private game reserves (around 300,000 hectares) and rhino security operations in the north of the KwaZulu-Natal. Three turbine helicopters are currently funded by the KZN provincial government.

ZAP-Wing undertakes daily air patrols, assists Rangers in pursuing poaching trends, transports SAPS and APU teams and even K9 units to remote areas. ZAP-wing investigates suspicious vehicles, reports game reserves of unusual activities around border areas and helps locate missing rhinos in difficult terrain. The ZAP wing is not only committed to the rhino, the value also extends to other animals at risk of being poached. ZAP-Wing has been recognized at national level for its numerous successes in the prevention of natural crime.

Project Rhino also has a stake in ZAP-Wing and is responsible for:

• The operational costs of the BushCat aircraft and pilots.

• Hluhluwe airport anti-poaching Ops center: a fully equipped dedicated air base for ZAP-Wing and related state and private poaching activities. It is also used as Zululand command center for operation rhino 7 and the national SAPS anti-poaching program.