Rhino Numbers and Census

[Richprins]

[H. erectus]

Thanks RP.

[Richprins]

SanParks' Financial statement for the 2011-12 Bookyear shows R44 million made by sale of "Animals and Plants"...quadrupling from the previous year...

http://d2zmx6mlqh7g3a.cloudfront.net/cd ... s-edit.pdf

Now what animals have they been selling...rhinos?

[Toko]

More info about SANParks wildlife sale: SANParks Annual Report 2011/2012

Wildlife Management and Wildlife Sales
The total income generated from wildlife sales during the financial year was R43 310 139. An additional R42 921 was generated through rental of SANParks
game capture equipment to external users. Provisions were made to generate income from buffalo and other species during the coming year to compensate
for the reduction of rhinoceros sales made necessary by continuing poaching.

[Richprins]

Another interesting quote (Point 29.2):

"South African National Parks is not able to accurately measure the quality/and or quality of all their faunal and floral biodiversity within the national parks"

Also, rhino estimates have been withheld due to security reasons.

This seems strange, as rhino estimates were quoted in abundance by SanParks in allaying fears about population drops this year!?

Anyway, so it is admitted that rhino sales have only "diminished" during the poaching period...it should stop!

And why is game-capture equipment now under "Sales of Flora and Fauna"??

Thanks, Toko!

[iNdlovu]

Creative book keeping.

[Richprins]

This from the TRAFFIC report on the rhino crisis:


From 2008 through October 2011, turnover from sales of White Rhinos by the three biggest selling organizations in the country (two conservation authorities, EKZNW and SANParks, and one private company, Vleissentraal) totalled just over ZAR236.3 million (approximately USD35.5 million) (R. Emslie, in litt. to TRAFFIC, 2012). In theory, the rise in the price of rhino hunts since 2008 has allowed the hunting industry to make unprecedented profits as rhino sale values at the country’s auctions have not increased commensurably. In practice, however, the impact of rhino poaching on the number of rhinos available for sale, as well as an emerging public outcry against rhino hunting in general, has had a negative impact on the actual potential for State conservation authorities to generate financial resources from rhino sales. On 14 July 2009, SANParks Chief Executive Dr David Mabunda said, “We need to dispel the confusion created in recent media reports between the sale of rhinos and hunting in and outside national parks” (Mabunda, 2009).

SANParks is guided in its decision to sell or distribute White Rhinos and other wildlife by Clause 55(2) (b) of the Protected Areas Act, 57 of 2003 (as amended) which states:

South African National Parks may, in managing national parks, sell, exchange or donate any animal, plant, or other organism occurring in a park, or purchase, exchange or otherwise acquire any indigenous species which it may consider desirable to reintroduce into a specific park.

The decisions by SANParks to sell White Rhinos are scientifically determined, based on population growth, sex and age structure, spatial use, natural dispersal, resource distribution and population dynamics. At that time the removal rate of rhinos for live sales had no detectable consequences on
population growth and, as Dr Mabunda pointed out:

SANParks, by selling or donating rhinos, is assisting in the process of re-colonisation of the range in the country and outside. It should be noted that it would be foolhardy if South Africa were to have its only rhino population residing in the Kruger, because we run the danger of losing it should there be a major outbreak of disease or rampant poaching. We would be sitting ducks (Mabunda, 2009).

Since that time, the number of White Rhinos illegally killed in KNP has steadily increased year on year. More recently, SANParks officials have stated that there will most likely be a serious reduction in, if not an end to, sales of White Rhinos from Kruger in the future due to the impact of poaching on rhino numbers and population structure in the park. In fact, very few, if any, White Rhinos will be sold by SANParks in 2012 (M. Knight, pers. comm., 2012). The notion that current and future poaching levels are impacting the population to the extent that it may no longer be able to sustain any more removals is a growing concern. This could lead to a marked reduction in income generated from live game sales by SANParks to undertake protected area management activities and to purchase new land for conservation purposes. Potentially, there could be major opportunity costs to SANParks’ broad conservation mandate if it were to lose the revenue that is presently generated by the sustainable removal of White Rhino for wildlife sales.

[Toko]

SANParks management of White Rhino in Kruger is based on a "ecological" harvesting rate of rhino. They simply do the math. In 2011 like this:

Sustainable removal number of white rhino was: 337
Anticipated poaching was: 229
Number of possible sales (337 - 229 =): 108


With the current poaching counts SANParks would have a negative number of possible sales and therefore, SANParks would need to purchase rhino

Info from Parliamentary Question in 2011

[Toko]

Next Parliamentary Question on Rhino Census

Ms S Kalyan (DA) to ask the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:
Whether, with reference to her reply to question 614 on 11 April 2012, the rhino census in the Kruger National Park scheduled for the dry season of 2012 has commenced; if not, why not; if so, (a) when did it commence, (b) who is the team leader of this project, (c) what budget is attached to it, (d) when is it expected to be concluded and (e) what are the further relevant details?

[Richprins]

Thanks, Toko!
The Minister certainly gets a lot of questions, if you read that PDF!