Game Report: Saving the Rhinos

4/1/2008

Zimbabwe - Wilderness Safaris Zimbabwe in conjunction with the Zimbabwe Department of Parks and Wildlife is well on the way to reintroducing at least 20 white rhino into Hwange National Park. The first five white rhino were released in July 2007 and have settled in well. The ultimate aim of the project is to return the white rhino population in Hwange National Park to its original size (about 120 animals) over a period of time.

Namibia - SAVE THE RHINO TRUST (SRT) works in tandem with eco-travel company Wilderness Safaris, bringing tourists on safaris to watch conservationists at work in the Palmwag Concession area, where 70 per cent of the region's endangered black rhinos live. SRT is one of the great success stories of Namibian conservation. In 1982, fewer than 50 black rhinos survived in Namibia. By 2002, the number had risen to 893, thanks to a two-pronged strategy of involving the local community in animal protection (including employing convicted poachers to monitor the rhinos) and dehorning the most vulnerable animals, making them worthless to poachers. The IUCN recently identified the population as the fastest growing in Africa.