According to Dr Martin Brooks, Chairman of the IUCN's African Rhino Specialist Group, Garamba National Park in Zaire is home to the last remaining wild population of which there are only 29.
ca. 7100
7500
According to Dr Martin Brooks, Chairman of the IUCN's African Rhino Specialist Group, there are less than 40 surviving northern white rhino left on earth.
The twelve year civil war in Sudan, Africa's largest country, has destroyed much of Sudan's wildlife and now threatens to have a similar impact on neighbouring Zaire. The threat of poaching in Garamba National Park - a 4 864 sq-km UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to the last known northern white rhinoceros in the wild, as well as some 11 000 elephants and the only Zairian population of giraffes - increased significantly following the capture of Maridi by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in 1991, and the subsequent influx of refugees to Zaire. The local field office of the UNHCR estimates that 60 000 refugees are in the area to the west of the park, with a further 20 000 to the east, Of these, 43 000 are in camps while the rest are scattered in the three reserves surrounding the park. Both the refugees and the local Zoirians have access to arms and are able to live off the land and exploit it commercially. Bushmeat from the reserves and park is available for sale in the local markets. The greatest threat, however, comes from across the border where rebel armies need food - armed with automatic weapons and hand grenades they poach animals from the park. Refugee registration, Sudanese identity documents and Sudanese money attest to the poachers' origins. Buffaloes are the main prey - their numbers have declined from around 53 000 in 1976 to 25 000 in 1995. Forty five elephants were found dead in 1995 and in Januciry 1996 ivory from 20 elephants was recovered from Zoirion and Sudanese poachers. The threat to the northern white rhino is increasing as poaching moves south. An adult male rhino named ?Bowesi' was killed by poachers in February and a pregnant 10-year-old female named ?Juillet' was found dead at the end of March, Poachers hacked off the horns of both animals. Rhino horn is sold for up to US$ 1 200 per kilogram in Yemen, where it is used to make dagger handles. WWF Director General Claude Martin has written to Zairion President Mobuto Sese Seko, asking him to intervene directly in the case. While the guards of the lnstitut Zairois pour la Conservation de la Nature are doing a valiant job to combat poaching often at great risk to their own lives - conservation aid is limited. The threat of poaching escalates with Zoire's ongoing notional economic crisis and with the continuing war in Sudan. Paradoxically, wildlife and the environment offer the greatest hope for revival and new development in this region. Dr Jeon-Pierre d'Huart, regional representative of the WWF East African Regional Programme Office says, 'It is time for the international community to look closely at the impact of the civil war in Sudan on this unique ecosystem. If not, by the time the refugees return to their homeland, Zaire will have lost one of the jewels of its natural heritage'.
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In the Sinamatelia region of Hwange National Park all 59 black rhinos were dehorned in mid-1992. In October 1994 only 33 had survived. Six carcasses, the stubby remains of their horns hacked off, were found and those unaccounted for are reckoned to have gone the same way. But the state of the survivors gave the veterinarians heart. In 1992, there were seven rhino cows with calves less than 6 months old, last year five of the same cow-calf pairs were found, with calves now 750kg sub-adults ready to leave their mothers for solitary adult life. Despite the two missing pairs apparently shot, the survival rate gave hope.
new survey announced. The rhino populations on private land can make a considerable contribution to overall conservation strategies, and the Rhino and Elephant Foundation contacted Daan Buijs in 1987 to conduct a survey on white rhinos outside official conservation areas. A subsequent survey was carried out by Richard Emslie in 1994. The original survey traced and recorded the histories of all translocations of white rhino from Natal Provincial Game Reserves, Bop Parks, and private sales. Contrary to popular (and often official) belief, a substantial number of these translocations were not as successful as expected. Various reasons for this were identified, and the findings were instrumental in the revision of Natal Parks Board allocation and pricing strategies. In the last few decades, black rhino numbers in other African countries have declined alarmingly, and the few remaining animals enjoy intensive protection. These factors have led to an increase in poaching of white rhino in South African Parks and Reserves. As tougher anti-poaching measures were implemented in these protected areas, poachers have recently turned their attention to rhinos on private land. Many white rhinos have changed hands through auctions and private sales. The present status of white rhino on private land is thus largely unknown. Before the 1987 survey, no black rhinos were present on private land. Since 1990, however, groups of five black rhinos have been auctioned annually by the Natal Parks Board to selected bidders. These populations are increasing and active management of the earlier founder populations will soon become necessary in order to remove mature bulls and rectify skewed sex ratios, This would also prevent mortalities caused by breeding-related aggression. These factors, as well as the build-up to the next CITES meeting in 1997 - where the listing of rhinos and trading in rhino products are sure to be discussed - have necessitat a new survey to establish the present status of rhinos on private land. The African Rhino Owners Association (AROA) has initiated and undertaken to obtain sponsorship for the 1996 survey. The aims of the survey ore to contribute to rhino conservation through the establishment of rhino management guidelines, to gauge the opinion of rhino owners on responsible utilisation of both block and white rhinos, and to provide official nature conservation authorities, IUCN Rhino Specialist Group and the South African CITES authority, with accurate information. The Mazda Wildlife Fund has kindly provided a vehicle for the duration of the project and the Rhino & Elephant Foundation, Lapalala Wilderness, the Natal Game Marketing Association, WWF and Thabo Tholo have mode generous contributions to AROA for the survey. Daan Buijs of the African Wildlife Management Unit of the ARC Range and Forage Institute will again supervise the project, with the help of Theo Papenfus, a B.Sc. Honours graduate in wildlife management, who will conduct the field work. The institute will also provide the infrastructure cind computer facilities necessary for this important survey.
