Ray of hope for rhinos in Zimbabwe – But situation worse in South Africa

25/08/2010 18:16:48 Orphaned Rhinos "Carla" & "Lisa Marie" released back into the wild - Courtesy of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF)
August 2010. "Carla" and "Lisa Marie", two young, female black rhinos, suffered such severe injuries from poaching incidents that they required daily veterinary treatment from Lowveld Rhino Trust staff and partners: Carla was shot and orphaned in an armed poaching attack; Lisa Marie sustained a deep leg injury from a wire snare set to kill antelope for meat. After being treated for their injuries and then hand-reared, the calves were successfully released back into the wild in May 2009. (Both were two years old.) The pair remains inseparable and have established their home range around the release site.

Today it is difficult to tell that these animals suffered such adversity early on in life. Now that they are living in the bush and finding their own food and water, instead of having it delivered by people, they are developing the muscular shape of wild black rhinos. Much to the delight of their carers, the pair exhibit normal rhino behaviour, and when approached by people on foot, they give a warning snort and charge off. There is always a risk with hand-raised animals that they will remain habituated to humans and seek out human company, such that they become a risk both to humans and to themselves because they may not be fearful of people. Luckily though, it seems that Carla and Lisa Marie are happily settling back into normal life as truly wild rhinos.

A rhino cow called "Three" who escaped poachers more than once in Bubiana, is now relaxed and settled in her new home range with what is now her third calf.

Poaching losses in the Lowveld decline drastically after rhino translocations
Rhino poaching in the Lowveld is down significantly with only 6 poaching losses detected in the first half of 2010 - the total was a devastating 42 for the same period in 2009.

In May 2009, The Bubiana Conservancy was completely destocked of rhinos in an effort to reduce the number of rhinos in highly vulnerable areas, and in Save Valley, internal translocations were undertaken to reduce the number of rhinos living in the most vulnerable areas. After these translocations, a dramatic reduction in the rate of poaching in the Lowveld was noted.

Many poachers released by the courts
In addition to the translocations, there have also been some successful anti-poaching operations that have contributed significantly to keeping poaching rates down in 2010. Frustratingly though, many of the arrested poachers have recently been released by the courts after receiving insignificant fines. One well-known poacher was arrested in possession of a silenced .375 hunting rifle. Silencers are illegal in Zimbabwe and are fitted to muffle the sound of the gunshot - in this instance, to avoid being detected by anti-poaching patrols when shooting rhino. The weapon was found to have been stolen in a violent attack on an elderly couple in South Africa, not far from the Zimbabwean border. Press reports identify Johan Roos, a South African, as the key middleman in this poaching syndicate, where he provides the weapons to the poachers and takes the horn back into South Africa. Rhino poaching in South Africa has escalated dramatically with over 150 rhinos killed so far in 2010.

Baby Boom Among Translocated Rhinos!
The rhinos removed from Bubiana have successfully settled into Bubye Valley - and several females have already given birth to their first calves in Bubye! "Three" is one such cow. After witnessing her narrowly escaping poachers more than once in Bubiana, it is such a relief to see her relaxed and settled in her new home range with what is now her third calf. Her two older calves - "Thriller" (named for the experience he gives the rhino monitors) and "Thunder" (named for his behaviour in the bomas when translocated) are also both living in Bubye Valley.

A number of the Bubiana rhinos have re-joined social groupings in Bubye similar to those that they maintained in Bubiana. "Rosemary" has made her home range next to her long-time Bubiana neighbour, "Marula". Marula lives near "Siabuwa", just as she did in Bubiana. And "Dozer" (named because he's built like a bulldozer), who was the dominant bull in the area these cows came from, has found his way back to them. These rhinos have developed new associations too. While tracking Siabuwa to check on her condition post-release, we located her with "Ring" - a black rhino cow introduced from Gourlays in 2005. Ring was with her new calf, which at the time of this sighting was only two months old.

We are still awaiting the birth of "Sinikwe's" next calf, after her last one was tragically poached in Bubiana in February 2009. "Ulemule", Sinikwe's mother, also lost a calf to poaching in Bubiana, but it is expected that both cow will have new calves this year in Bubye. Young bull "Jiros" is living between Sinikwe (his sister) and Ulemule (his mother), so the survivors from this family have found their way back together in this new area.

15 calves born in 2010 so far
The Lowveld rhino population at large though is not keeping us waiting in suspense for calves! We have recorded a total of 15 black rhino births in the first half of 2010, and the rest of the year should be equally as productive.

More orphaned calves rescued and hand-reared
In December last year, IRF reported that the group of three orphans was increased to four with the arrival of "Oliver" - a ten-month-old orphan from Save Valley. His mother was killed by the same poaching gang that killed "Sassy's" mother in Bubiana. This particular gang uses automatic weapons, and in the spray of bullets that killed his mother, young "Oli", as he is now called, was also wounded by a bullet to the chest. He received veterinary treatment upon capture and fortunately no serious damage was found.