Africa Wild

Incredible

How a plan to save Kenya's rhino left 11 dead in historic blunder

30.08.2018 - AFP

It was a disaster that left wildlife lovers around the globe appalled and baffled.

Eleven of Kenya's precious black rhinos were transferred to a new home in what was supposed to be a routine operation in a country fabled for its conservation.

So how did all of them end up dead?

The primary cause of death, an official report found, was due to toxic levels of salt in the water of their sanctuary.

But an AFP investigation has found that the problem was well known and deep concerns were ignored.

Experts sounded repeated warnings about the site's unsuitability.

Yet the relocation project was pushed through - and officials are now blaming each other for the fiasco.

The translocation was launched with great fanfare in late June by Kenya's tourism and wildlife minister, Najib Balala, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), which donated a million dollars for the project.

Dubbed #TheBigMove, the operation would help ensure the survival of a species brutally depleted by poaching.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) describes the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) as Critically Endangered - just one step away from being extinct in the wild.

Rhino from parks in Nairobi and Nakuru were sedated, loaded and transported to a new sanctuary in Tsavo East, a project that the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and WWF had spent six years preparing.

There, the rhino drank borehole water so salty that it corroded a metal grill around the pump valve, and no other wildlife would come near it, said Dr Benson Kibore, head of Kenya's Union of Veterinary Practitioners.

The saline water made the animals only thirstier, pushing them to drink more, drawing water out of their body tissue, thickening and slowing their blood. They were "dessicated", said Kibore.

A rhino named Bolt was the first to die, and the others soon followed. The last, Jack, was so weakened he could not fend off a lion attack that left him wobbling and alone, with huge gashes in his side before he succumbed days later.

'No way!'

"I was horrified. I was very certain there was going to be a very big problem with those rhinos," said Nehemiah Rotich, a veteran conservationist and former KWS chairman.

At the time of the translocation, he was chief operating officer but had been tasked by the KWS board with looking closely into the project.

Rotich and some former members of the board - the oversight body which has to approve major management decisions - said they had blocked the transfer multiple times due to fears about the saline borehole water and the lack of vegetation.

"The site chosen wasn't a good one," Rotich told AFP. He visited it twice, arguing it was too arid and far from a river, requiring the drilling of two boreholes.

Discord came to a head in 2016, former board member Brian Heath said.

The board were told with just days' notice that a big ceremony was planned by KWS and the WWF to launch the transfer, just as a punishing drought was taking hold, he said.

"We said, 'No way!'" he recalled.

But pressure persisted, he said.

Both Heath and Rotich accused the WWF of "pushing hard" for the translocation. Their anger was echoed last week by prominent conservationist and former KWS chair Richard Leakey, who in a parliamentary submission slammed the WWF for "interference."

In October 2017, the board gave conditional approval for the translocation pending improved conditions at the site.

The board's mandate expired in April 2018.

By that time, the green light for the translocation had still not been given to the management.

Even so, the operation went ahead three months later -- in the absence of a new board.

Blame-trading

Evidence of the tussle over the translocation comes from a meeting in May 2017 attended by KWS officials and WWF's chief rhino expert, Martin Mulama.

Two sets of minutes were written, according to documents seen by AFP.

The first made no mention of concerns, but was amended after complaints from some present, leading to a second version that included the warning: "The prevailing habitat could not allow any translocation to take place."

A series of 15 water assessments by KWS, conducted between February and May this year, indicated that the water was at times up to three times saltier than recommended levels.

But Kibore claims that these crucial documents were not provided to vets even when the first rhino fell sick.

As a result, the vets wasted valuable time looking for other causes, such as a snake bite.

WWF's Mulama strongly denied pressuring anyone to push ahead with the translocation and insisted that sole responsibility lay with the KWS.

The WWF, he said, was not aware of problems with the sanctuary and had received "regular assurances from KWS that the site was suitable and safe."

"At no time would we do anything detrimental to the species we were trying to protect," Mulama said.

'A dark time'

Former KWS board members accuse Balala of using his ministerial powers to authorise the transfer in their absence. Some observers have called for his resignation.

However, the minister, an energetic pitchman with a penchant for colourful bow ties, denied any decision-making role and in turn blames the board, telling AFP that if it had been so unhappy with the site, it should have cancelled the project entirely.

"My invitation (to the launch) was purely ceremonial. Did I know about water? Did I know the board was objecting? I was not even aware," he said told AFP.

"If they want me to resign, just prove what role did I have in the process of the translocation," he said.

For Kenyan conservationist Paula Kahumbu, the problem is far greater than the wrangle of which individual signed off on the calamitous mission.

"Things failed at multiple levels, the lack of accountability from various authorities is of great concern," she said.

Kahumbu said the signs of turbulence within KWS, and recent developments such as the building of railways through national parks, and other encroaching infrastructure show it is "a very, very dark time for Kenya" and its wildlife.

Superficiality and thirst for glory

Black rhino making a comeback in Chad thanks to relocation from SA
2018-09-25 13:29
Duncan Alfreds


The black rhino relocated to Chad is released into the boma. (Kyle de Nobrega, African Parks)

The black rhino may be making a comeback in Chad after nearly 50 years, thanks to a relocation programme involving South African rhino.

Six black rhino are adapting well in the Zakouma National Park after being flown to Chad in May 2018, said conservation organisation African Parks.

The relocation was not an instant solution to the extinction of rhino in Chad.

"We've worked in concert with the Chadian government and local communities for eight years to prepare Zakouma for the return of these extraordinary mammals," said Zakouma's park manager Leon Lamprecht.

According to conservation organisation the World Wide Fund for Nature, the western black rhino is extinct in the wild, and currently, black rhino number about 5 455 individuals, from about 100 000 at the beginning of the 20th century.

Poaching

The black rhino (Diceros bicornis) was listed on the Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Appendix 1 in 1977.

This listing means it is among the most endangered Cites-listed animals and plants and is threatened with extinction.

Before this relocation programme, the last Western black rhino in Chad was recorded in the 1970s, said African Parks.

SANParks, African Parks and the South African government collaborated with Zakouma and the Chadian government to reintroduce the rhino into the ecosystem.

But because of poaching fears, the rhino are all dehorned, fitted with a tracking device and have dedicated surveillance teams.

"While most news about rhinos is about their demise, here we are seeing how a collaboration, political action, and funding can help create a successful founding group that can grow into a viable central African rhino population," said Lamprecht.

The introduction of rhino in Zakouma also gives the park a new lease on life after its elephant population was devastated between 2002 and 2010. Numbers declined by 90% during this period.


The black rhino is photographed post release. (Kenny Babilon, African Parks)


The black rhino is photographed post release. (Kenny Babilon, African Parks)

Security

Under the new management of African Parks, Zakouma hopes the rhino will spur tourism and has seen some success as elephant numbers increased for the first time.

The park highlighted its "intensive" security measures to protect the rhino.

"The rhinos are being tracked constantly by a dedicated ranger unit that has received advanced training, which is supplemented by the well-equipped law enforcement team, aerial surveillance and numerous other security systems."

There are plans to expand the rhino population in Zakouma National Park in 2019.


Black rhino photographed in bomas in SA. (John Dickens, African Parks)

Two rhinos die in Chad after being relocated from SA

Sunday 21 October 2018 - 3:00pm


A black rhino running around in a holding pen in Zakouma National Park.
Stefan Heunis
AFP

JOHANNESBURG - Two of six critically endangered black rhinos have died of unknown causes five months after being flown from South Africa to Chad in a pioneering project to re-introduce the animals, officials said Sunday.

Rhinos in Chad were wiped out by poaching nearly 50 years ago, and the six rhinos were intended to establish a new population in the country after intensive anti-poaching measures were put in place to protect them.

"We can confirm that these two rhinos (a male and a female) were not poached," the South African environment department and Chad government said in a joint statement. "However, the exact cause of death is not yet known."

In July, there was widespread outrage after 11 black rhinos in Kenya died after having been transferred to a sanctuary, mainly due to toxic levels of salt there.

The rhinos in Chad had been roaming free in Zakouma National Park after a gradual acclimatisation process.

Their carcasses were discovered on October 15.

The surviving four rhinos are being closely monitored, the statement said.

In May, the six rhinos were sedated with darts and flown from the Addo park in South Africa to Chad, in special steel crates, accompanied by vets checking their stress levels.

The high-profile transfer was hailed as major conservation breakthrough.

There are fewer than 25,000 rhinos left in the wild in Africa due to a surge in poaching, and only 5,000 of them are black rhinos.

Black rhinos are rated as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Rhinos are targeted to feed a booming demand for rhino horn in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries, where it is believed to have medicinal qualities.

Northern white rhinos disappeared from Chad several decades ago and the last western black rhino was recorded there in 1972 after decades of poaching pushed both subspecies to local extinction.

Rhinos were re-introduced to Rwanda in 2017.
AFP

Zimbabwe white rhino destined for DRC 'shot in pen': report
2018-10-22 06:07




One of the ten white rhinos captured in Zimbabwe for export to the DRC had to be shot after it injured a game ranger while in captivity, a newspaper is reporting.

The white rhino attacked and seriously injured the ranger while being held in a quarantine pen in Hwange National Park, said the private Standard newspaper.

“We know that the rhino, which attacked a game ranger was shot and killed inside the quarantine facility,” said Sharon Hoole of pressure group, Bring Back Our Rhinos.

“This means that the other rhinos witnessed, and were exported unhealed of the trauma of witnessing this killing,” she added.

Strongly criticised

Zimbabwe is estimated to have around 800 black and white rhinos. Along with South Africa, Namibia and Kenya, Zimbabwe is home to around 98% of remaining white rhinos in the world.

The government announced in September it would export rhinos to the DRC. It’s believed some were captured in the Matobo National Park. The move was strongly criticised, given the high rate of poaching and insecurity in the DRC’s national parks.

But Zimbabwe’s state wildlife agency, ZimParks, said security checks were done before the export.

“Government was satisfied that the rhinos are going to be safe in DRC,” spokesperson Tinashe Farawo told the state-run Herald last month.

https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/ ... t-20181021