Discovery Enterprises International’s Animal Planet brand has teamed up with Perfetti Van Melle to raise funds to save the black rhino with products featuring Chupa Chups and Mentos.

Two co-branded, animal-themed product ranges–the ChupaChups Animal Mega Chups and the Mentos Animal Money Box–will launch exclusively at duty-free outlets internationally beginning at the end of January.

A percentage of the profit from the products will be donated to The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s project to save one of the world’s last surviving, truly wild populations of black rhinos living in Namibia’s Kunene province. The money will fund anti-poaching operations, monitoring of the black rhino and community education projects.  

“We’re delighted to partner with our licensee Perfetti Van Melle on this special initiative to highlight the plight of black rhinos and support the wonderful work being done by The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation to safeguard their future,” says Nicolas Bonard, senior vice president, Discovery Enterprises International. “The Animal Planet brand is incredibly powerful, and loved by its advocates the world over–so we’re proud to be able to leverage it for this exciting and important initiative.”??

Each item will carry a hangtag that explains the partnership with Animal Planet and The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and highlights the plight of the black rhino, as well as a fun fact about rhinos.

“We always aim to bring innovation and excitement into travel retail with our exclusive product lines. It's important to be different–not only to products on the high street but also to other lines available in the airport shops,” says Susan de Vree, manager of global travel retail, Perfetti Van Melle. “The Chupa Chups Animal Mega Chups and Mentos Animal Money Box are the perfect gift items for children, and at the same time they will benefit a very worthy cause." ??