Flamingo - Nature - Black-rhino conservation in Namibia
'Dart in' is the call that triggers half an hour of incredibly intense, focused activity- by a hand-picked squad of experienced conservationists – the rhino capture team of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET).
There is a spotter plane above us and a ground team with several vehicles below. We are in a helicopter about 40 metres above the ground – Dr Mark Jago, wildlife veterinarian of the MET Game Capture Unit; Birgit Kötting, manager of the MET Rhino Custodianship Scheme; pilot Jan du Preez; and me. MET Chief Conservation Scientist and Rhino Co-ordinator Pierre du Preez has identified a black rhino suitable for translocation and Mark has just darted it.
Helicopter flying at treetop level is not for the fainthearted, but Jan is a superb pilot with years of experience. He knows exactly how to position his machine to manoeuvre an animal in a certain direction or ensure the best vantage point for the vet, and Mark shot the dart into the rhino’s hindquarters from a height of perhaps 30 metres.
The call ‘dart in’ goes out over the radio. It takes only a few minutes for the tranquilliser to take effect. The ground team has visual contact with the chopper and moves closer, waiting for the confirmation ‘the rhino is down’. Then the chopper quickly lands to allow Mark and Birgit, equipped with oxygen and a variety of drugs, to begin their work.
In the famous ‘Rhino Recovery Vehicle’ – a specially modified Land Cruiser – Manie le Roux has been waiting for the ‘rhino down’ call. Now he shifts gear, heading straight for the point where the helicopter landed. He drives at the highest speed the terrain will allow. Dense bushland, hidden obstacles and calcrete rocks are not easy on vehicles or drivers, but time is crucial and Manie has done this well over a hundred times. He is on site moments after Birgit and Mark.
The rhino should be loaded in its transport crate within half an hour to minimise the risk of complications. Its eyes are immediately covered with a blindfold. It is hosed down with water to keep it cool. Its temperature and breathing are monitored while a variety of data is collected. A transmitter fitted into its front horn will allow surveillance at the release site. Several men clear the area and unload the specially built crate from the customised trailer towed by a second Land Cruiser.
The team works extremely efficiently, making rhino capture look like a relatively simple exercise. Yet the strain on the faces and in the voices giving instructions, the urgency of movement and general tenseness make it clear that this is not simple at all. Things can quickly go wrong – for the rhino and the people around it. A black rhino is a very valuable, but also a potentially dangerous animal. Rhino translocation costs a lot of money, which is carved out of a very limited conservation budget. There is little room for error. Both the life of the animal, and the danger to the people involved, are constantly on people’s minds.
Rhino conservation is one of those incongruous battles for the environment and the survival of a species. The worldwide decimation of rhinos is not due to habitat destruction, which tends to be the biggest threat to wildlife around the planet. Rhinos are being killed at a frightening rate – gunned down with automatic weapons, even inside national parks – for one thing alone: rhino horn. It is the most valuable renewable natural product in Africa.
Not only live rhinos are targeted – rhino horns have been robbed at gunpoint from museums and park headquarters. The demand is high, poachers are very well organised and the situation is extremely dire. Rhino horn has two main functions: as material for traditional dagger handles in the Middle East and as a medicinal ingredient throughout much of Asia.
The Namibian Rhino Custodianship Scheme is a far-sighted approach that is aimed at spreading the risk of poaching impacts over a large area, while at the same time repopulating former black-rhino ranges. The MET generally supports efforts to return species to their historical ranges and the black rhino has been a flagship species.
The Namibian rhino population reached an all-time low in the early 1980s, when poaching in remote areas was out of control and severe drought exacerbated the situation. The white rhino had already become extinct in the country around the turn of the 19th century, and the black rhino was reduced to fragmented populations.
A first translocation scheme moved many rhinos from north-western Namibia into Etosha. Meanwhile, the determined efforts of NGOs such as Save the Rhino Trust, working with local communities, reduced poaching and stabilised the north-western population. And a shift in the national conservation paradigm began to build the foundation for future success: what began as a community game-guard system in the 1980s has turned into a highly successful, national community-based natural resource management programme. Legislation passed in 1996 allows local communities to actively manage – and benefit from – the natural resources in their area by forming conservancies. There are now 59 registered conservancies in Namibia and these are the focus of reintroductions.
In Etosha, effective protection allowed rhinos to increase to the extent that relocation already became possible in the mid-nineties. Rhinos have since been translocated to numerous sites in Namibia (including national parks, communal conservancies and private reserves), as well as to a number of other African countries. The present venture is another round of the scheme.
After about twenty minutes of focused activity, the words ‘antidote in’ signify that the rhino we have been working on is ready for loading. It has been rolled onto its stomach, with its head in the entrance of the crate. As soon as the rhino gets to its feet and before it is fully awake, it is guided into the crate using manpower and heavy rope. With the aid of a winch, the crate is loaded back onto its trailer and driven out to the nearest road.
For the vet and the driver, this is only the beginning of an extremely long day. Once two rhinos have been loaded, the truck will set off for the release site – which may be eight or more hours of bumpy driving away. At the site, the rhinos will be released immediately and then the team will start the long drive back. Mark will be at camp before dawn tomorrow, to do the same thing all over again.
In a make-shift camp in western Etosha, the capture team sits around the evening campfire in the biting cold of Namibia’s winter, sharing food, drinks and laughs. This is a group of tough, hardened men – and a few women – with plenty of scars and stories to tell. There isn’t much talk of rhinos. Jovial exchanges help unwind after a hard day dominated by the pachyderms. Yet there is a sense of real urgency here. This is a battle, and the costs are high. While rhinos in Namibia can currently be considered relatively safe, the fight is far from over. A recent international press release highlights an alarming upsurge in rhino poaching around the world. It would be foolish to believe that Namibia is immune.
New thinking in rhino conservation, the resources to ensure ongoing efforts and a shift in the mindsets of rhino-horn consumers are urgently needed. All three aspects require international action. In Namibia, local communities have already made their commitment to conservation clear, and actively manage and protect the rhino. It would be wonderful to see similar commitment and suc-cesses elsewhere.
Text and photos by Helge Denker, NACSO/WWF in Namibia
