(Status in 1990s) In the early 1970s the Luangwa Valley was home to an estimated population of 4,000-12 000 (Ansell, W.F.H., 1975, Black rhinoceros in Zambia. Oryx, 13, 83-84). The large, unfenced, and under-funded National Parks and Game Management Areas of Zambia were, however, very vulnerable to the wave of poaching that swept over the continent in the late 1970s and the 1980s, and by the early 1990s the majority of Zambia's black rhinos were gone. The IUCN African Rhino Status Survey considered them 'Presumed Nationally Extinct' in 1999, with no confirmed sightings or spoor for over 6 years (Emslie, R. & Brooks, M., 1999, African Rhino. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC African Rhino Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK).
These animals were part of an agreement between FZS, Frankfurt Zoo, South African National Parks and ZAWA. Frankfurt Zoo has sent two black rhino calves, born in the zoo, to South African National Parks and a third will follow later this year. Two of these animals form the basis of the arrangement to give the five animals to Zambia, through the mediation of the Frankfurt Zoological Society.
Zambia is historically one of the major range states for the black rhino Diceros bicornis minor (see also Oryx, 37, 139), and the Luangwa Valley was one of the strongholds of the animals in the country.
(Status in 1970s) In the early 1970s the Luangwa Valley was home to an estimated population of 4,000-12 000 (Ansell, W.F.H., 1975, Black rhinoceros in Zambia. Oryx, 13, 83-84). The large, unfenced, and under-funded National Parks and Game Management Areas of Zambia were, however, very vulnerable to the wave of poaching that swept over the continent in the late 1970s and the 1980s, and by the early 1990s the majority of Zambia's black rhinos were gone. The IUCN African Rhino Status Survey considered them 'Presumed Nationally Extinct' in 1999, with no confirmed sightings or spoor for over 6 years (Emslie, R. & Brooks, M., 1999, African Rhino. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC African Rhino Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK).
These animals were part of an agreement between FZS, Frankfurt Zoo, South African National Parks and ZAWA. Frankfurt Zoo has sent two black rhino calves, born in the zoo, to South African National Parks and a third will follow later this year. Two of these animals form the basis of the arrangement to give the five animals to Zambia, through the mediation of the Frankfurt Zoological Society.
The 4,600 km' North Luangwa National Park, situated in the mid to upper Luangwa Valley, has been jointly managed since 1986 by the Zambian Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) and the Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS) in the form of the North Luangwa Conservation Project. The resulting long-term continuity in support of law enforcement and management led to the required levels of security that made the reintroduction of black rhinos to the Park, and in effect to Zambia, feasible. In 2001 the South African Development Community Regional Programme for Rhino Conservation carried out a positive evaluation of North Luangwa as a suitable reintroduction site (Dunham, K. M., 2001, Reintroduction of Black Rhino in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. IUCN SADC Regional Programme for Rhino Conservation. IUCN, Harare, Zimbabwe). A truly international and regional effort led to the release of the first five animals into a central fenced sanctuary in North Luangwa in June 2003. These animals were part of an agreement between FZS, Frankfurt Zoo, South African National Parks and ZAWA. Frankfurt Zoo has sent two black rhino calves, born in the zoo, to South African National Parks and a third will follow later this year. Two of these animals form the basis of the arrangement to give the five animals to Zambia, through the mediation of the Frankfurt Zoological Society. This part of the reintroduction is just the first step towards the goal of establishing a founder population of at least 20 animals in the Park over the next 3 years. The re-establishment of a viable population of black rhino in one of its most important historical range states is a further positive step forward in the conservation of this Critically Endangered species, as well as signalling the start of a new era for wildlife in Zambia.
