Of the 260-300 black rhinos still surviving in Zimbabwe, about 160 (55-60%) are on private land.
Diceros bicornis to private land. The problem of too little fencing has arisen in areas such as Chipizi (southern Matabeleland) and Gwayi (northern Matabeleland), where rhinos have dispersed off the ranches onto which they were introduced, and became scattered to the extent that their monitoring and protection were totally inadequate.
Diceros bicornis. Intensive management facilities. These are small properties on which semi-tame rhinos are maintained through artificial feeding. There are two such properties: lmire Game Park (Hwedza area) and Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage (Bulawayo area). The rhinos were handraised, following deliberate separation from their mothers during capture operations in 1986 and 1987 (this practice has been discontinued). It has become apparent that there are serious constraints to the breeding of rhinos in these situations.
Major breeding areas. Through direct translocations from State Land, and through redistribution of rhinos on private land during 1993, two relatively large breeding groups have been built up: 39 rhinos in the Save Valley Conservancy (south-east Lowveld) and 44 in the Bubiana Conservancy (West Nicholson area). These areas are showing good progress towards becoming Zimbabwe's 'rhino factories'. The Bubiana Conservancy (1275 km? ) and the Save Valley Conservancy (3330 km? ) now have black rhino populations of sufficient size to meet the genetic and demographic criteria for medium-term viability. Other conservancies, such as the Chiredzi River Conservancy and the Midlands Conservancy can usefully function as satellite breeding areas. There has been no rhino poaching in the Lowveld conservancies since 1991, and, elsewhere on private land, there has been no reported rhino poaching during 1994.
Diceros bicornis to private land. The problem of too little fencing has arisen in areas such as Chipizi (southern Matabeleland) and Gwayi (northern Matabeleland), where rhinos have dispersed off the ranches onto which they were introduced, and became scattered to the extent that their monitoring and protection were totally inadequate.
Diceros bicornis to private land. At least 30 black rhinos have been poached on private land over the period April 1989 to December 1993. In addition, over this period four black rhinos have been found dead with no evidence of poaching but with their horns missing. In the worst poaching cases (such as the total eradication over a period of about 8 months of a group of 12 black rhinos on Ruwanzi Ranch, Karoi district), there has been evidence or at least strong suspicion of staff.
The Bubiana Conservancy (1275 km) and the Save Valley Conservancy (3330 km? ) now have black rhino populations of sufficient size to meet the genetic and demographic criteria for medium-term viability. Other conservancies, such as the Chiredzi River Conservancy and the Midlands Conservancy can usefully function as satellite breeding areas. There has been no rhino poaching in the Lowveld conservancies since 1991, and, elsewhere on private land, there has been no reported rhino poaching during 1994.
The Bubiana Conservancy (1275 km2) and the Save Valley Conservancy (3330 km? ) now have black rhino populations of sufficient size to meet the genetic and demographic criteria for medium-term viability. Other conservancies, such as the Chiredzi River Conservancy and the Midlands Conservancy can usefully function as satellite breeding areas. There has been no rhino poaching in the Lowveld conservancies since 1991, and, elsewhere on private land, there has been no reported rhino poaching during 1994.
Major breeding areas. Through direct translocations from State Land, and through redistribution of rhinos on private land during 1993, two relatively large breeding groups have been built up: 39 rhinos in the Save Valley Conservancy (south-east Lowveld) and 44 in the Bubiana Conservancy (West Nicholson area). These areas are showing good progress towards becoming Zimbabwe's 'rhino factories'. The Bubiana Conservancy (1275 km? ) and the Save Valley Conservancy (3330 km? ) now have black rhino populations of sufficient size to meet the genetic and demographic criteria for medium-term viability. Other conservancies, such as the Chiredzi River Conservancy and the Midlands Conservancy can usefully function as satellite breeding areas. There has been no rhino poaching in the Lowveld conservancies since 1991, and, elsewhere on private land, there has been no reported rhino poaching during 1994.
Diceros bicornis. Intensive management facilities. These are small properties on which semi-tame rhinos are maintained through artificial feeding. There are two such properties: lmire Game Park (Hwedza area) and Chipangali Wildlife Orphanage (Bulawayo area). The rhinos were hand- raised, following deliberate separation from their mothers during capture operations in 1986 and 1987 (this practice has been discontinued). It has become apparent that there are serious constraints to the breeding of rhinos in these situations.
Diceros bicornis in Zimbabwe. For the rhinos that survived the initial phase of translocations and release, additional problems have arisen due to either too much fencing or too little fencing. In the Midlands, which received 66 (38%) of the 174 animals moved from state land over the period 1986-1989, the miombo woodlands and low-diversity vegetation along the Great Dyke have proven to have a low carrying capacity for black rhinos (a safe stocking rate is thought to be about 1 rhino per 15 km? ). This inherent ecological constraint is exacerbated by the fact that the area is comprised of a number of relatively small ranches (average size is about 7 000 ha), with a large amount of electrified boundary fencing which has restricted the dispersion of the rhinos. The post-release mortality rate in this area has remained high, depressing the net population growth to under 3% per annum, compared with growth rates of 7-10% per annum which have been achieved in the large Lowveld conservancies. The problem of too little fencing has arisen in areas such as Chipizi (southern Matabeleland) and Gwayi (northern Matabeleland), where rhinos have dispersed off the ranches onto which they were introduced, and became scattered to the extent that their monitoring and protection were totally inadequate.
