IN PICS | SA rhinos off to Chad for rebirth of species

Six rhinos were flown out of Port Elizabeth yesterday to the North African country of Chad in a visionary project combining “rhino-plomacy” and sound conservation strategy.

The heavyweight group of four females and two males is headed for the Zakouma National Park where it is hoped they will launch the rebirth of Chad’s black rhino population after it was poached to extinction in the country 46 years ago.

No rhino has been seen in Chad since the early 1970s.

Looking on as the animals were loaded from bomas into crates at the Addo Elephant National Park, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said that, with Chad having almost completely reversed its poaching problems in the last seven years, the project represented conservation with a purpose.

“This is a fundamental building block of Africa’s renaissance, an African solution to an African problem,” she said.

“Black rhinos once occurred in 28 countries across the continent and are now restricted to just a handful.

“With this project we are expanding the rhino range and at the same time helping to grow Chad’s conservation and tourism value.”

The animals were brought down from the Marakele National Park in Limpopo’s Waterberg Mountains and have been in the Addo bomas for three months.

Yesterday, securely in their crates, they were trucked through to the Port Elizabeth airport for their 15-hour charter flight to their new home.

Zakouma wildlife veterinarian Dr Jerome Hugonot, 46, said the rhinos would be monitored constantly during the flight and would be under 24-hour surveillance at their new home.

“When they arrive, we will insert tracking microchips and remove their horns,” he said.

“Although poaching is under control, we continue to take all precautions.”

SANParks planning and development head Dr Mike Knight, who led a team of South African experts on a recce to Zakouma last year, said the aim was to expand the park’s black rhino population to 18.

With the Western black rhino sub-species Diceros bicornis longipes, which used to occur in Chad, now extinct, the introduction of South-central rhino Diceros bicornis minor was ecologically acceptable, he said.

“With the pressure on the surviving three subspecies, the thinking is we need to establish a single robust black rhino population.”

Andrew Parker, director of the African Parks Conservation Development Unit, said marauding Janjaweed militia from Sudan had posed the worst poaching threat to Zakouma.

“We turned the situation around by establishing a peace dividend for the surrounding communities who were themselves being terrorised by the Janjaweed.”

Addo park manager Nick de Goede said: “It was a big load of extra work on the guys and there has been the stress of security alarms and panic systems, but it has been good for conservation.”

Unofficial rhino whisperer, SANParks contractor Wilson Nxamleko, who played a key role looking after the rhinos at Addo together with veterinary nurse Cherí Morkel, said he was satisfied they would be safe in Chad.

“They [rhinos] have been worried and were asking me what was going on. I told them they were going away but it was the same people over there who would be looking after them, conservation people, so they will be fine.”