I AFRICAN RHINOS 1 - Rhino Resource Center · 40 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997 sponsoring tl~e Nortllern...

40 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997

sponsoring t l ~ e Nortllern White Idlino Workshop held i l l White Oak in Octobcr 1'995.

IUCN I Icarlqu:~~ t c ~ s for suppo~ t ond administrative r~ss~stulice.

The Sciel~lilic ()llicer would likc to tllank t l~e Ill~dnr~gc~~rtl Wlltllif'e 'I'lust :aid C 'OI I I~ )~IC~ for. the loall of iI polllllllc ~Ollll~lI~el.

Subscription Details

Those n8:lnting to receive or advel-tise ill Ali icr~n Idlinos or on the AfllS(;'s l i ~ t u ~ c Web Site are ;~skctl to ~)le:lsc \\!rite to or f'as the NRSC; Ollice.

'I'he success oftllc ~lewslettcr will depend on contributions l.eceived fi-om the Afi-ican range States and other rr1:lnagers i111t1 orgnnis:rtions involved in rl~illo cor~sc~vatiol~.

'Isherefore please provitle the cciitor with bricf ncws items or s11o1.t articles. I )CI I~I I~I IL 'S for sub~nissions for t l~e nest etlitior~ will be the 3 l st Octobel 1997

'The AfRSG will be sponsoring the publication of tl~is edition of the ncwslelter-.

l-lowe~ er we nre looking for sponsorship to cover printing and drstr~bution costs of futi~re eclitions. Anyor~e, or I I I I ~

o~ giu~isation i r ~ t e ~ estcd il l

sl~onsoring thc pt11)licntion of Ali.icr~~~ Rllillos 01. r~tlvcrtisir~g (tin tleductiblc) ill Ali-icnn llllillos

Anyone or iiny 01 g i~~i isnt io~~s \\rllo would likc to sul)l~ort the work of the ARSC;, are requested to 1)lcnsc coritclct tllc ( 'II;I~IIII;III, Dr Mal t i l l Hrooks, AIltSC;, l'(_) Dos 662, Pieternit~r.itzl)i~l.g 3200, K\\ a7.uIu-Nat:ll, Sorlth hfr.ica F:ts (i-27) 33 1 473278

I ~c1.1 (1997) No. 1 April 1997

Newsletter of the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist ---P Group 1 I ( African rhino numbers near 1

AFRICAN RHINOS

( 10,000 in the wild - whites up and blacks stable I 'I'his first editior~ of 111c I I ~ \ \ ~ Afi-ican Illlino Specialist G I - O L I ~ (AIRSG) Nc\vslelter I-epo~-ts or1 the col~se~votion of Africa's rhirros with p:~~.ticular enlphasis OII ~ lcu ,s li-om llle r;lrlge States.

0Ille1- sul~.jects discussetl i l l this etlitiot\ include a \~ricl'espInnatiot~ of tllc role :md activities oftlle AlRSG (1111.ir1g the last KJCN t r i c r ~ ~ ~ i r ~ n ~ , C 1'1 '1 :S iss~,~es, 11e\vs 1i.o111 I 11i11o collser-\don \>odies, i u ~ ul)tI:~te on

CONTENTS

The AfRSG ................................. 1 .............. Range State Update 8 ............... Organisation News 21

... Ot l~er African Rhi f~o News 25 ........................... CITES News 28

AsRSG News ........................... 34 The AfRSG Ttlar~ks.. .............. 39

............... Subscriptior~ Details 40

the status of the new AllZSCi Ali IC:III

Rl1i11o Ac11on IJlan, and Asi:lu lU~ir~o Specii~list Group (AsIlS(i) rlcws.

, . 1 his ne\vs Ictte~ supplcmcnts P n c l ~ ~ ~ t l e r t ~ ~ which is t l ~ c joint jour~lal of IllCN SSC's African Elcp11n11t Spcci:~list (;1.0111> :111d j\fiict111 1111~1

Asicw lt l~ir~o Spcci;~list ( ir.orrps.

The AfRSG

The Al'ricari


' 1 ' 1 1 ~ I I I ~ S S ~ C I I I o f l l~c All<S(; is 10 ~)~.or~lolc Ihc lo~lg-lerl~l c o ~ ~ s c ~ . v i ~ l i o ~ ~ (>I' Niica's 1.11i11os and, \\there necessaly, the ~ , eco \~c~y of their 1)cil?r1lntio11s to \.ial>lc levels.

111 I ~ C I I I ~ I I , IIIL* All<Sti ~ I : IYS :I h c ~ rolc In thc 1>ro111011011 rind coordination o f 1,llino cnnsc~-v:~tiorl s11 :llegics

lic\,icw t l~c slntlls :111d tlwl(ls 01' I . ~ I ~ I I ( > 17ol~11ltlliol1~ ill Ni.ic:~ :I[

AIRSG ~ ~ ~ c c t i ~ ~ g s lrcltl ;I[

apprnxi~~~nlcly l S 111o111l~ly i111e11~:1ls

0 Assess irlll>;lcls ol'r~se arltl olllcr I I I I I I I : I I I activities c111 lllcsc ~~)~)ula t ions .

priorities, nr~d use these to dir-cct A c t i o ~ ~ I'ln~ls. Assess ol~lio~ls liw rhino co~~scrvillion, tllc~.el)y providi~lg ~ecl~~~ic : l l s~111po1.t for conscrv:~tion slrategies n ~ ~ t l

promoting their implement :I t ' 1011,

f- Eva1u;lte the elIccti\~c~~css of direrent l'o~rns ofconse~v:~t io~~ action, and where necessnly u~lde~.l:~kc ~cclulical assistancc nlissions

*:- I'~~otlt~cc a Nc\vsleller, :lrltl Key Issr~c Rcl~orls as rcclui~.cil.

.:* Lirlisc \villl the Asia11 lilli~lo Specinlisl Group cm tecll~iic~~l rllnttcrs.

AIRSG n~c~nl>crs cc>nic li.0111 1 S corlnt~ ~ c s r111d all 13\11 four n~crnl>crs are Il;~sctl i l l Afr~ca I hc group c u m l ~ lscs ollicial lep1 csc~~t:ltives of the n1:lln Afi-ic:~n rhino 1:lrlge States ar~d 1.11ir1o s~~ccinlists i l l lllc sric~ltific, \'eIcri~l;l~y, field conse~-\r:llio~~ ~nir~l:~pc~~lent i111d trndc sltldy fields. . . I lu ee ~ncrnllci s of the AiRSCi a1 e


also members of the Asian Idlino S1)ecinlist C;roup (AsKSG), and tllcl-c is irlcrcasing tli:lloguc hctween 11le two groups.

Activities

fvlclnbers regul:uly nctivork \\lit11

c : ~ c l ~ otl~er- o~ld illso i~~terfacc \\lit11

s l~ir~o 1n:111:1gcnrc111 g1 o111>s at IIlc regional or ~l:~lionnl Ic\~cl. This ~let\vorking co11l1-ihutcs to the e~ll~nncemcnt of skills.

'l'hcrc is a need to channel lirllitetl donor finding into cri~icallj~ irnl'ol-tant projects \vith a reason:~blc ch:lnce of' success. 'l'hc AtRSG facilitates this I)y pr.oviding tecll~licnl tliscclio~~, priol.itising : I I I ~ listi~lg key :IIIJ impol-ta~t l~")~)i~li~tio~ls, ~wol~osiirg p~'ojccls, as \\:ell as itlc~~lifyi~lg :Incl p~.o~~loling l l~c co~~sc~va l io~ l strategies and approaches most l i kel! to succeed. '1.0 Illis cntl, l l~c AIltSG :~lso I-oulincly retcs 1)roposccl projects 11s lo tl~eir conti~le~~tr~l and natio~l:ll e o ~ ~ s e r ~ : ~ t i o ~ ~ ~ I I I ~ I ~ I - I ~ I I I C C .

'I'he AfllSG ~.egularly nvie\vs ~.llillo 1x0-iect prolmsals f i l l - a number 01' 1i111ding age~~cics \vo~.ld-witle (including WWI: ilnd OS Fish X: Wil(llife Sc~vicc). 'I'I~r.c.c AIRS(;

members also sit on the Intenl:~tional Rhino For~ndation Scientilii: Adviso~y Ronrd.

A 1i11:iI (11.1111 ( j l ' i ~ IIC\\~ All<S(; hli-ican 12hinoceros Acr io~~ I'I:ln 113s been complelcd and been ~.evie\ved by the rnetn1)ership. It will he ~)ul~lisl~ctl ill l>otll print allcl e l e c l ~ ~ o ~ ~ i c I ~ ) I I I I ~ I I 1997.

'I'he AfltSG undertakes tccl~nical assistn~lcc ~llissiorls ancl co~~lpilcs Key Issue Reports \\:hen ncccssalj.

The NRSC; maintains close links with IIle CITES Secrelal-ial wllicl~ has one rcprescnlative on the AIRS(;. AIRS(; rnemhcrs tlr:~llc~l a resolr~tio~l l i~ r CII'ES Strl~ltli~~g Co1~11~1it1~c \vl~icl~ C'( ) l 'O ~,t~tilic(l :IS Resolr~lio~l 0 . 14 with only :I k w changes.

The AlRSCi has also assisletl CITES Star~t l i~~g Cor~~r~iitlee hy s l~u- l i~~g :~rltl rcl>orli~~g 011 ~ I I C l>roctss 01' de\velol>i~ll: "intlicaturs" of success in rllirlo co~~ser-\rotior~ as cirllctl TOI. I,!. I lesolt~tio~~ (lo~lf. 9.14. 'l'l~is pl.ocess is sclleclulctl to be devclol~ccl lilrtllel. i l l cool>cr:~tio~l with both the AsltSti and 1'HAI:I;IC.

AfRS(.i ~llernlxrs also pI:~y :I keg ~ o l e in t11c IeeI111ici11 revicw ol' Cl'l'liS


~ ~ r v p o s d s on African rhino for inclusion in the IUCN Analyscs of C:I'I'I;S ~)rol~osals,

AIIISG mcmbcrs \vill be \\.ell rcprcsented at the 10tli Corlferetice of tllc I':~r.lies scl~etlulcd for I-Inrarc in St111c 1997.

I ~ I I ill[! tllc Inst llrrcc ycars tllc AIIiSC; Ilt*ld two nieetir~gs - I he li~'sl in I\/lonlhns:i. Ke~lya in May 1994. : I I I ~ ~ I I C S C C ' ( ~ I I ~ ill Italn (3a111e Itcsc~.vc, Soul11 Africa i n I:cl>~unn. I ~ ) C ) C l

AI~:II.I lix1111 lIrt:i~. i ~ ~ v o l \ ~ c ~ ~ ~ c ~ i l ~ v i t l ~ rlntinnnl and r.cpio~lal rlii~lo nlnnnpcn~cnt committce's, AlRSG I I I ~ I I I ~ C I . ~ Ila\.c nlso I : I ~ ~ I I I I : I I ~ ~ I I or llcltl \vorksllc~ps nod undcrtnkcn Icclu~ic:ll :~ssistance missions in thc C:~~nc!roon ( \ . c l c~- i~~a~y ), USA ( ~ ~ c ~ r t l ~ c ~ n ~vliite I . I I ~ I I O conse11~atio11 \t~c~rksl~ol~), Zi~nl)ah\vc (asscssme~~l ol'c:~r.r?i~~g c:~p:rcity and sr~ilnhility of I l~c Midln~lds tbr black r11i11o cc>r~~lurcd t o l~\\.\~eltl consel-var~cies, :111cl n revictv uf Li~nbnb\vc's rhino collscrvntion policy). S o ~ t l ~ Ni-ica (irlor~itorir~g n~id ~~olii~lation i:sti~l~:rtio~~ ill K111gcr N.P :IIICI l I I ~ I I I I ~ I \ \ ~ c - ~ l11ili)lo7.i 1':1rk),

Democratic Rcpr~hlic of' Congo (Ia\v enforcerrler~l, I:lw c~~Sol.cernc~~l ~~lonitorinp, rllino ~ ~ l o ~ l i t o r i ~ ~ g : I I I ~

rl~ino ~ c s c : ~ ~ ~ c l ~ gL veIeri11:11y nssistr~r~cc ill (inrn~nbn Naliollal Park), Kenya (~nonitoring and pc~l~ul:~rion cstirll:~tio~~ i r ~ Aberdnrcs Nntior~al 1'iu.k. : I I I ~ stlrdy Io11r 10 S,Al'ric:~).

' 1 . 1 1 ~ AIl<S(; nlso g:~vc :~ssrst:~~rcc to t11c Ali ic1111 I<l~irlo O\\r~icrs Associ:\tior~ il l ~lrcir 1996 I csrwvey of lllc st:~trls of wl~ilc rllillos on pr ivirte I:lnd in Sc)trtl~ Ali-ic:~.

'I'llc third I I I C C ~ ~ I I ~ of t l~c All<SG IS

hcltl in I~:II:I Garnc licsc~vc, K\vn%r~l~~-Nalnl, South Aliici~, l?om tllc 12- 17 of I:cb~.u:l~y 1996 nnd \\'as alter~detl by 3 0 ~ncr l~l~crs :~rltl

c o ~ ~ t r i b ~ ~ t c ~ ~ S 1i.or11 14 t l i l~crc~~t cotlr~tr ics, ~ l ~ a i ~ ~ l y AIi.ic:111 I . : I I I~C Stntcs


irnporta~~t rl~ino ~>ol)ulations and presentations and discussions (111 a \\ride varicty of issues rclirting to tsndc, consa-\lillion nrltl rrlnllngelrlellt tech~~iques i ~ ~ l t l str;~~egics. 111 i~dd i t io~~ during \vorksllol)s , tllc systc~l~ Ihr rating rhino cor~se~-vntio~~ ~)rojects and p ~ - o g r m n n ~ ~ v : ~ s revised to include u c:~tegu~y l i~r projects ol'

11:1tio11:11 i11111orti111cc~ 1 1 1 ~ t c r r~~s ol'

by CITES were tlcvclol,ctl. I >~-:lns of sectiotls o f t l~c AIlISc; A c t i o ~ ~ ~ I : I I I were nlso circulntcd lilr co~r ln le~~l .

Follo\\~ing the A11<S( i 'S I:cl)~unr)l 1996 n~eeting, mernl~ers visitecl I ~ I I ~ I I I I ~ I \ \ ~ ~ - U I I I ~ ~ I ~ Z ~ 1'ilt.k \\'l~icI~ cnl-rer~lly Ilolds tllc \vorl(i's seco~lil largest populi~tio~~s ol'I)otlr Idock n11t1 wl~ite rlli~lo. tv1e111I1c1.s \\'L'I.C ~ S I ) O S C ~ !

to aspccls 21s di\.crsc ;IS: - la\t1 enl'orcernrnt tecl~~~iclr~cs arid equipmcrlt, - dcl>loy~nrr~t of specialist anti-po:~clii~~g ur~ils, - ol>e~.:~ticrr~ : I I I ~ vi~lue of ir~tclligcrlcc ~~crworks, - rl~ino C : I I . I ~ ~ I I ~ C : I I I I I C ~ ( ~

estimation, - vegetation ecology as it affects rhinos, - rhulo capttlrc techniques, equipment and \1eteri11:11y issues, - white and hlack rhino n~onitol-ing i111d p ~ p l l l a t i o ~ ~ estimation, - rhino nietapopt~latioi~ management, - ecotourism, - and conlmunity de\.elopnienl and : I \ V ~ I S ~ I I ~ S S P I - O F ~ I I I I I ~ ~ S .

. . I l ~ e co~rti~~crllal statistics for Ali.ic1111 rhino numbers cornpiled at thc AlRSG's Fe11 1996 meeting (hascc1 011 1995 pol)~rlulio~~ cs l i~~~alcs) revealed that Ihc number ot'Ali.icnr~ rllil~os in the \vild \vas nearly 10,000, tllc higllcst nurnbcr sirlee the ~ l l i t l

1980's.

1)ctails ornu11111ers t)y subsl~ccics :~nd counhy are preser~ted in Pacliydenn 1996 Vol 2 1 p 3, arid tl~e fo~~l~corning NRSG Action Plan gives full details of chnnges in riunlheis of Ali-ican 1.1ii11os over lir~le I,y colllllly ilrltl I:lsoll.


Southel-r~ \vhite rhino (Cernlol/ret~irtrrr sirrrrrnr ~irrrrrrrr) r l~~n~hcrs llavc co~ltir~ued to incrc;~se to :~ rou~~t l 7,560, rlp fro111 6.780 ill

1 09314; urith four countries recording illcreases over the last two yc:~rs nlld ~ ~ o t l c declines. Cor~sider-irlg t l~c s o u t l ~ c ~ . ~ ~ white rl~ino hatl 11cc11 rctl~~cctl to o11ly nhout 20 ill ci11c ~loliul:~tio~l i l l Soutl~ Aliic:~ :I ~ ~ I I ~ I I I ~

:IF", Illis ~.ccci\.c~y I-cl~rcsc~~ts o~ lc of l l~c \ \ ' o ~ . l c l 'S p~.c:~tcs( co~~sc~.\*:~lio~l s~lcccss stories.

I 'o:~cl~i~~g I~o\\rc\!er (hre:rtens the only ~.c.lnnil~i~~g pol~ulalion of the nort11e1-n \\rl~ilc rl~illo (C'.s.coiiorri) in Gal-nmha N:]tio11:11 I":II ,~ 111 \ \ ~ I I : I ~ is 11ou~ ~ I I C IL)CIII~CI.:I~~C I<cpul~lic ofC'c)ngc). I:ollc)\vi~ig 1,:lpirl gro\\rlll from 1984 to 199 1 . ~ ~ u ~ n h e r s have since remained st:lldc nt :~~.clt~nd 3 1 a~~i~ni l l s and I ) C ) ~ I C I I ~ I I ~ I>I .CSS~I~C is i~~crc :~s i~~g . Co~~sel-v:~tion in the area has been

tlis~-u~~tcd :111(1 c1111.ellt rl~ino I I ~ I I I I ~ C ~ S

: I I ~ t~~llillo\vn. I t is hoped that the 11c\\, gm'en~rncnt \ \ t i l l be pro- c o ~ ~ s c ~ ~ v : ~ t i o ~ ~ , : I I I ~ t11at i t will li~lly srll>l)ol-l 311 co~lscrvi~tior~ I ) ~ O ~ ~ ; I I I I I I I ~ S

111 t11c 1':li.k.

S~tlcc 1992, nu~nbcrs of black rhino (I>ICCIII.F hicor.rri.c) ll:~ve remni~led sl:~l)lc :I[ nrorl~~d 2:l l0 (cxcl~~tlll~g s~~c i~~ l l :~ t ivc g~lcsti~~~:~lcs). 'fl~is IS

la~pcly due to n co~~lb i~ led 23% i~lcrcasc il l rli~r~ibcrs il l South Africa nnd Nn~nihin \vl~icll llns cr~~lcellcd out tlccli~lcs i l l a nullll~c~- of other rnnge Stnles.

Three of the four r c r ~ ~ a i ~ ~ i n g hlnck 1.l1irlo s~~hs l~cc ics r1u11111cr I~cttvccn 475 : l l l ~ l 1,300, l-lo\vcb,cr tI1c st:1tr1s ulqtl1c lk\\l ~ ~ I I I : I ~ I I ~ I I ~ Wcst Al-l-ic:~~~ l>l:~ck 1.11i1lo ( / ~ , / ~ , / o r r ~ i / ) t ~ , ~ ) ~ I I

C ' : I I I I C I . ~ ~ I I col~li l~~les to he cl.ilic:ll.

FOIII. I.nllgc St:~tcs (Sor~tl~ Aliicn, N:lnlihin, Kcny:~ :111d %i~nl,:~b\vc) IIO\V coilscrvc over. 98% ol' Aliica's kno\v~~ wilt1 rl~i~los.

C:losc to i~ lil\ll ol' Ali-icn's \\f i l t l

rllinos n1.c else IIO\V citllc~. nlar~ngcd on a custodiansl~ip hnsis Tor the Stale 01. o\\rncd hy the priv:~tc sector,.

L)espite irnprovcrne~~ts in some arcns, the 1)cl-li)l 111:111ee of t l~c 655 \vl~itc l.l~ir~os :IIICI 204 black 1.l1i11os living ill cnptivity \vorld\vide in 1997 ec>l~t i~~r~es to f:~ll SIIC)II o f t11:1t Ijci11g ncl~icvctl by ~l~.citcctccl \viltl pol ) r~la~io~~s.

7 AFRICAN RHINOS

Over the same period 58 \\~llitc rhinos were 1101~1, but 66 died giving a nct loss of R nni~nals over the pcl-iod.

(Source of data on nu111bel-s of Niicarl rhino in captivity . Foose 1997 and I~ltc~n:itiot~nl Str~dbook Keepers L ~ I I l~i~ll~ilrI GOltc~~ljotl~ : I I I C ~

111. A~ldrcas Oclls).

June 1997

rllinos, and (iii) action strategies. It includes a full list of AfRSCi-rated prioriv projects.

. . 1 Ilc list of rated p~.ojccts is co~lstill~tly changing as projects get h~nrled, ale completed or revised. Therefore [lie AlRSG has delibel-ately decided not to include details of projects i r ~ its Action I'lan 3s this i~lfonllntio~~ ~ : I ~ C S

qi~ickly. Irlstcad the Action Pli111 concentrates on recommentled action strategies for stlccessf~~lly

nvailn1)lc soon.

A reviscil (11.nli o f lllc IICW AIRSG "Niicon Ill~irloceros Actiol~ I'l:lrlV

llns bee11 co~l~lliled by tile Scielltific Onicer n ~ l t l Chni~ 1n:lll : I I I ~ will lic

'I'llc plan will provide g o v c n l ~ ~ ~ c ~ ~ l s ,

co~~sc~vir lg rhinos. I lowcvcr all r q > - to-date list of PI-qjects requiring funding \{rill be maintained on the Weh sile.

'I'l~c Action plal~ outli~lcs thc co11se1-vation status, go:~ls rind strategies for collsel-\.i~lg Afric:~'s I - C I I I : I ~ I I ~ I I ~ l>li~ck ~ I I I C I \vI~itc rIli11os. As srlcl~ i t i~~co~l)or i~tes IIIRII)' of (lie strategic i~litiati\!es disci~ssed i111d

r~o~l-go\~cnllllenl;ll o~.gul~is;llio~~s, jounlalists ancl students with :l11

i~lfom~ed on the st:rtrls of I-liir~os and their C ~ I ~ S C F \ ~ : I I ~ O I I I t \ \ ' i l l he pr~hlishcd both in 11n1,tl copy i ~ ~ ~ t l

also clcctronically on the Web.

dc\fclolwd l)y ~ne~~ll>el.s tlul.il~g AIKSCi mcctillgs sillcc 199 1, and tl~erefore is v e ~ y I I I I I ~ I I a (irot~p ~Il'otluct.

'fl~ose i~~terested in obtaining a copy of the Plan \irhen it is published aud \vishi~~g to be ser~t details of cost sl~oi~ld eitllcr \\!rite to t l~e All<S(;

1'11s plan col~~l)rises 12 chapters dealiug \\fit11 (i) past nr~d cunerlt distribution, status :~nd co~~scl-vation of Ali.ic;lr~ I I l i~~os, (ii) 1l1c

otfice at F'O Bos 662, Pietemmaritzburg, Kwa7.ulu-Natal, Soutl~ Africa 3200 or I'ns *27 33 1 473278.

8 AFRICAN RHINOS

Tllc AIRS(; \ \ r i l l v c ~ y shortly ol)cllirlg n site I I I I llrc Wch.

At l l~e time of publication tllc AIT<SG still I I ~ I S 11) 1x:gistcr ils I ~ ~ I I I : I ~ I I II:IIIIC,

1 lo\vcvel; sr~~.fcrs cnll hc ntlviscd of ~ lcvc lo l~ l l~c~~t s Ily tqisitirlg lllc Wiltl~lc*t Afr.icn Well Silc :I( \ v \v \ \~ \ \~ i l t l~~c l :~ l i~ i cn co.z;r 01. visili~lg tlit* l\<\: silc :I\ ~ v ~ v ~ v , ~ ~ l i i ~ i o s - i~-l~.o~~gfspccinlists/ \vho \ t r i l l hnlh provide llot links Il11.ough to the futrrrc Ail<S(.; site.

- . I his ~lcwslcttc~. will nlso Ilc p~rl~lishctl nl llrc AlltSG's Wch site IL~Ic:I. tllc IIC\V Act io11 I'li111 \ \ r i l 1 :rIso \?c ntldcti to Ihc silc. I~utnrc p l n ~ ~ s :~lso i~icludc puhlisllinp a crrrrcnt d:lli~l>:lsc 01' AIRS(; 1.ntcc1 ~)rcgccls ~.ecl~ril.i~~g 1'1111cli11g.

A I I ~ O I I ~ ilrlcl.c:slctl i l l : ~ t l \ c.1 lising olr tllc A1RSc;'s prol~oscd Wcl) Sitc slloultl plcnsc. contilcl. . Tllc Iitlitol; Ali i ~ * n r i 12hi11os (sec \>:lck lvllrc li)r iltltll css)

June 1997

Range State Updates

Wllite ~,llinr> nun~hcrs continue lo i~lc~~ense ill tlic Klri1111n I<hi~lu S:rriet~~:~ry, l3y .l\111e l O!Xl llle nnrnber of rhinos lind ina-eased to 12 li)llo\vir~g the hi1 l11 of throc cnlvcs.

Kliama is one of the \\lorld's 111ost 11c:1viI\ ~ ~ ~ ~ o l e c ~ c ( l I 11i11o pop111 :I 1 ' IOIIS, illid 13t>t~\\t;l11n I I~SCI~CC I'OYCC IN ovitles 24 hour protection. L,ook O I I ~ lowers R I O I ~ ~ : lllc ~ C I I C C I ~ I I C SIII I ou~rtl lhc rcscrvc li11 Iller c~~l~ancinj i the s c ~ ~ ~ s i t y .

*I'l~e Sancluary is located on 4,300 ha of Knl:ll~:~ri sz~~ld\~cld sav:tllnn ovcrlyi~~g dccll Kirlnhnri snnrls. St:r\vc l'i111, \\tllicl~ j~rovitlcs 111osl of . tllc p rck~rcd wliitc rliulo habitnt is a


Iilrpe gross-covel-cd depression with several ~lirlural waterholes.

I r is nln hy tlic Kllarna I<lli~~o Ssr~ctrlil~y 'l'lust \vllicll is n cornm~n~ily-based wildlili: project cstahlist~erl in 1992. The 'l'lust ni~ns to [~t.ovitle econornic henclits to llre cornrnu~lily th1-oup11 tot11.isrn ancl llre s~lsl:~inul~lc use of I I ~ I ~ I I I . : ~ ~ rcsourccs.

. , I hilly cntrle thi11 \\'ere I'crlced ill the Sruictunry are i l l (he process of being renloved \vIiich sllould l.educe any competition for grazing ~vitli the rhino.

I I I lllz 1;1s1 ye:r~. ;I[ least LNI. of tllc k w relli:~ining West Ni.ica11 black ~.llino (Llicervs hic0171i.r 1011gipe.r) Iri~ve becl1 poacl~etl. O ~ i c poacllccl illli~nal llrrd Ixerl litterl \vith a ~xtlio t ~ ~ ~ ~ s ~ ~ ~ i l l e r

Unfortuliately, the court C ~ S C II:IS hccn I~ostpo~iccl and the poaclicl.~ were rlol held ill custotljl.

Recent groulid sur\*eys througl~out the ar-ra of not-lheni Camerooli Ijy 11ube1-t l'lanton (Projct 13iodivcrsltt Nord, vold Cooperntlon Frsuqaise) and Mic.harl Wnlter (WWF

connlltant) hns revenlcd that there are between 15 ot~d 26 anin1:rls renlnining.

'I'l\csc kw rcllrilinirlg iali111;lls :rrc scalte~.cd o\er n huge rlr.en il l srll:lll groups, \~ l i i c l~ is higlily undesirable i l l ~CI . I I IS o l ' c o ~ ~ s c ~ - v ~ ~ l i c , ~ ~ I)iology.

(iivell the lo\\ density of rtri~ios, tliei~ sc:\ttcrcd distl.iInrtioll, logistic difliculties and the lilck of local conser\~ntiori c:rpncitg, cirtcllir~g :\lid cor~soliilnting tile l .e~~li l i~~i~rg I Ilillos woultl hc tlitlicult and cspelaivz.

To achieve success it \\.ill hc nrccsstrry fix. the GOVCI ~lniellt 10

make 1.1iino conselvntior~ a prio~ it) nrltl ~ I I C I . ~ : I S ~ its e o ~ ~ i ~ ~ r i l l r i ~ ~ i I ~ I I I C I

10 AFRICAN RHINOS

dl i~r l , r~rit l t lo \vl~;~tever poss~blc to ensure that anyone co~~victetl of :I

r l ~ i ~ ~ o cl i r ~ ~ c rcccivcs :I vc13 scvrrc C ~ I I I L ' I I ~ C .

111 bl:rrch 1907, :l11 AIl<S(i I I ICI I I~ IL ' I .

li'o111 WWI: (-::~rncroo~~. 1)1' Stcvc (;:1rlla11 :~ncl 111- .Inap Sc11oor.l (Coclrdirla~or WWF-NLICa~r~eroon Pi.c~gl-n~nme) visitcd I'icter~un~.itzhr~rg, South Niic:~, to cliscr~ss the situntiorl regardi~~g the I:~st rc~~~:iiliing Wcsl Afi.ica11 hlnck ~ , l ~ i r ~ o (11ic:crr)s hicor.rris lc)rr~i/~c.s) i l l

C:311lc1~0011.

'I'l~cy :~lso \.isilcd I Ilul~lt~\vc- I J I I I I~ ) Iu~ .~ 1':ll.k wher.e they \\!ere h-icfctl 011 r l i i ~ ~ o conse~vntion mcasul.es ia l l ~ e I'ark. :~ntl in ~?:~~'ticulal. In tliscuss n r ~ t l cs:lrninc :111[i ~>o:lcl~ir~g slr:ltcgics \ v i l l ~ Ihc I':II.~.'s tlo~~sc~.\.:~lor :III(I ( I I C 11c:ld of Ihc at~li-pclacl~i~~g u~iil.

IlEMOCRA l IC

CONGO

1,

\V\VI~/AfHSG joint t c c l ~ ~ ~ i c n l :~ssislnnce ~ l l i s s i o ~ ~ to Ca~.ambn National Pn1.1i.

M i S C i mernbers 'l'ony Conway, l-lolly Duh1i11 and Richard I3mslic \!isilcrl (.;ar:rmha Nntion:~l I'nrk i l l

Apr.il 1996 :IS p:~r.t of :I joi111 WW12/NIISG 'I'echnical Assislnncc Mission to review the Iati er~rorce~ner~t, I:lw ~11for.cernent ~~~o~~i to~. i l i j ! , r11i11o 111o11itori11g :III(I rllino rcscarcli in Ilic Park.

' ICI I cl;~ys were spe~lt i l l ( i :~~' i~~nl)a Ily the [cam 11711o I-eviewed the situation in tlic field, :i11(1 l~cl(l ~ I ~ S C ~ I S S I ~ I I S nqitI~ lcllo\v AIlIS( i 1ncn11)cr-s 1)r Kes I lillnrio~-Smill~ aritl Llr. Mbnyma Atnlia, n s well as the out-going Parh Consc~vato~; Mo~rsiet~r Mtihi~ido Mesi n ~ ~ d WWF Gal-amha PI-cjcct's C'l~icT'I'ccl~nic:~l (Olliccr, 1:r:lscr Y~nill~.

I 1 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997

A detailed report \\as pr.oduccd by the team which contnincd prioritised recommcndalions. This re1)or-t \Itas tllc11 usctl by WWI. ~ I I I ~ I ( ; : II-~IIIII~~ prc>,jcct st;11Y to :~ssisl ~ I I tl~cir ~.efocusing and rcvisiori ol'the rnalo~ WWF project and conse~vation programmes in the Park.

them bci~ig stolen.

Monitoring has proved dillicr~lt sincc I;cb~-u:~ry. 'I'l~crc is also i~~crcnsi~lg co11ccr11 about I I I C poacl~ing gangs wl~icll have now moved fur-[her south into the are8 occupied by the northern white r.11i11o. Uurir~g t l~c unrest tl~ese gangs coultl II:IVC ~ I I C I ~ C H S ~ ( I (11cir. i~cti\litics

'The unrest following the Cil i l war in what is now the Democi.atic IZepublic of Congo (cx Zah-e) llns negatively aficled conservatior~ in Gal-nmb:~ N:itional I':I~-k.

I I I ~ V C I I I C I I ~ of l)oncl~el*s tllre;~tens ~.hinos

At one stage li)rcipn ~~~erce~ ln r i c s took over t l~e 1':uk I-lendquar-tcrs at N:~gnero, :~nd tl~ey rnadc the I I L ' : I C I C I U : I I ~ ~ C ~ S 0111 or 1)o1111(1s 10

WWF's Chief'l'ecll~ricnl Ollicer, I;~.nsel- Smith. I-lowe\rer the n1:1i11 ( I : I I I I ? I ~ ~ 10 t l ~ I ' ~ I I . ~ \viiS C~ILISCCI Ily llecing troops and mercena~ies of es- PI-csitlcnt Mobr1111 :~nd nccording to 1)r 1 l i l l ~ ~ ~ l ~ ~ l - s ~ l ~ i l l ~ "i~~iytllirig III:II could riot be loored was deslroycd". It ivill he experisive and logistically diflict~ll to replncz the fuel, veliiclcs :~ r~d r.arlio eqr~ip~~~err t lost. Fortunelely tile t\\,o sp01ter plar~es \isere re~~lovcd lo Kcl~p:~ tl~r~-ir~g t l~c II I I I .CS~ to I ) ~ C \ ~ U I I ~

~vl~ich coultl I~nve ciis:~strous consequences for not orrlj the rhino I)ut also the rare Congo girnll'c, and

(r1l1 si~l)l)o~-t :IIICI l ~ a c k i ~ ~ g to C O I I S ~ . ~ V : I ~ ~ ~ ) I I progarimles I I I the I'ark.

~

I:ollo\vi~~g tliscussiolls tict\vcc~~ tllc (.;am Rangers Associatioil of Africa ((.;RA), AIRS(; nl~d WWF, (<RA tr;~ining cxpcrt Jack Greell' undcr-took a reco~ulnissancc 111ission i l l ( l ~ e 1':ll.k wit11 t l~c WWl;'s Cl1it.f l;.cIu~ical Olliccr Frascr S~nitli to exanline licld I-anger tr.aiui11g nectls. Negotiations nre cu~~en l ly undc~-\va!; to see if tlre rcrluircd r:lnger training car1 I)c done in the Pi~rk ljy tllc (iRA entl co11t1.il1111c lo inclusing protcctio~~ for tllc rcrr~:~ir~ir~g 1.11i11os.

tllc ~I io~~sai i~Is of elephants :uid bufiilo in the arca

Thc ARSG therefore hopes that the nc\v g o i ~ e ~ ~ ~ n l e n t of PI-csidcnl Kabil:~ :i11cI his loc:~l ollici~~ls ~ v i l l kivc tl~cir

12 AFRICAN RHINOS

Gnrarlibn IS n WOI Id 1 let itage Site :IIICI OIIC ~ I I C \ > I ~ I I I c ~ ' s s pcc tnc~~l~~s 1111tl lruly \\ ' I I ( I nlcns All \ \f l~o lia\,c I1cc11 t l ~ c ~ c ilrc ci~l~li\ralotl Ily its hcnrlty Irs loss \\rould he a C:ltiIStl ophc, rlul 0111) for Ille no1 tllc~rl \\rIlitc ~Iiilio 13i1t :11so l'or glolx~l 1 ~ l ~ l C i l ~ ~ l sltY coliscl \~:l~loll

June 1997

@@ KENYA

\ , f il 1.:'

'1'11' All<S( ; II:IS I ~ ~ : C C I I I I \ ~ I ) C C I I irllilnned I)!. Ivo~-i:~n con-cspondc~lt b!o~lsic*~~r Scck:~ K: I I~~ : I RCIIC 1Ii:ll 1l1c I I I I I I I ~ ~ ~ I . c) l ' \~l~itc r11i11os ill 111c I . C S C I ~ I ~ ~

is still f o ~ ~ r :~r~i r~i ;~ls . Mo~isicirr Rcrle \ I I I ~ I C ~ I C > ( ~ I < ;I SIIICIY or ~ I I L > l~cl~ii\riot~r or

~ I I C : I I I ~ I I I ~ I ~ S i l l 1906.

I'ojx~lntion rnonitol-ing nnd (lie i~~rl>o~.t:~~~omnT ~ ~ . o d u c i ~ i g regulilr sl:llus ~ c ~ o r - t s \vcrc also tliscussctl

Kcr~y:~ \Viltllife Scl-vice rlli~lo s(irtly tour of' f i n f a % ~ ~ I ~ ~ - N ; ~ t d , SotltI~ Africa

*fhe Ke~ipn Wildlire Sclvice. ~.cl)rcsc~~(cd hy 'l'illl 0100 :IIICI I ) : I I I~c~ Nj:lg:~ \vcl.e hostud jointly in Scl'tcr~lhcr 1996 by tllc AllISG, Natal I'arks I3oilr1.l a~ld Wild Solutions.

Approadies TOI. cslimiltil~g c:lrlyillg capacitv in South Ni-icn were clisc~~ssccl. lllc I:rllc~. I)cir~l: cc~il~.fll to nlakinp olltnkc ilccisio~~s to n1:rnage rllino ~)opulatitrlls for- ~ i ~ : ~ s i r n u r ~ ~ ~>~'odr~ctivity (a core li~.ir~ciplc li)r successli~l I llirlo cc~nsc~-\~alion ilctiou


Kenya cunently holds 420 (or 88%) of the East African subspecies, 1)icerv.~ b. rrriclrtreli, ancl orlly N:lr~iihi:l (598 D.h.hicor.r~is) ancl So11tl1 Ali.ic:r ( l ,204, I I I I I ~ I I ~ J '

I).b.n~irror.) liol~i Inore black rhino. , , I he success of Kenya's rhino progrnlnllle is Illc~-erol-e critical lo llie surviv:rl oftllc African l)l:lck I . ~ I ~ I I ~ I .

Kcnya Wildlifc Service lias rece~~tly go11e tlrsough n ~ ~ ~ O C ~ S S oI' rcorganis:ltion and restlucturing

'l'lle ~ ~ o s i l i o ~ i oSKcnp:~'s 1.l1i11o coortli~li~lor, 'l'i111 0 1 0 0 , 1111s r~nliri~lcd I I I I C ~ I : I I I ~ C ~ ~ il l I I I C KWS I ~ C S ~ I I I ~ I I I I . ~ I I ~ . I ~ I o \ Y ~ v L ' I ; Daniel Njaga, \\flio \vus ~~revioilsly responsible fol. rhino I.CSC:II.C~I co111111y\vicle, II:IS I ~ C C I I posted to one ol'rhe regions. I-le will still be r c ~ ~ ~ o ~ ~ s i l ~ l e for 1.lli110 resc:~rch il l I-:~kc N ~ I ~ I I ~ I I .

MI. Njilt:;~ is busy conil>lcling his I>l:lck I llirro car iyirrg cnprrcity sl\ldics irl Lake N:l!iu~ u Natiori:~l l'arb, N:lirobi National I'ark i ~ ~ l ( l Ng111ii1 Sanclua~y in Tsa\.o Wesl Natio~lal I'11rk.

AfRSCJ Technical Assist;~ncr hiission to I<eny:~ oi the ciI1.ds

I:ollo\rilrg :~ly,rot\clrcs I>y Kct~rytr Wildlil'e Senlicrs and privatc lontlownel-S, tlle AIRS(; Chai1111an :~nd Sciel~lific )llice~. \lope to visil Keny:~ lutcr tl~is yen1 lo ~liscuss n r111111l)cr 01' iss~lcs.

Topics on thc z~genda will pro\~:rbly inclutle the :~~~p:~rt 'rilly lo\\' population gro\\'tl~ ales arid lolrg inter-calving i~~te~-\rals in snnlc* Kenyan black rhino areas, c;ln?ing capacity estiln:ltion \vilh a vlew to niasi~r~ising ~,ol~ul:ilioli gro\\ 111 r:~tcs, vegctotiorl tlyllr111lics 1111cl its ilrll~i~cl IUI ~.Ili~los, r l i i~~o ;111cl I1i11)itiil

1 monitoring, and status reporting

I I I ~ I I I ~ I I I O I I ~ I I S i~flcr i~~tr (>cI~~ct io~~, lhc \\'llile sl~irlo ill 0 1 Cl101.o ill I ~ I C Mas:li-Mal-:I tspcricllced prot~le~rls tvitll :111i111als Ileilig i~llkctecl \vilIl

~ q ~ ) i r ~ ~ o s c ) ~ ~ i i t ~ s i s 01. "11y1)s" - 11

disci~sc cnusccl hy tsetse flies.

Holvcver, reccrit rc~)o~.ts suggest t11:lt <l\ L >cc0111e 11loI'c thcp sccu1 1 0 11, J 1

1.esistar11 to tI~e ilise:lsc


lllnclt r.liir~os still s u ~ ~ i v e i l l

r~o~. t l~rr*r~ hloz;11111)iclue

In A~~pust 1 V96 Nick O'Cormur nnd 1,iza IvlcKay visited Ninssa province i l l ~lu~.tl~er-n Mozambique :lnd cll,lai~lerl ~lc~-rnissicltl to visit l l~e Ni:lssn licscl-\:c, :~cco~lllx~llicrl 13 l[ll!:ll gt1:ll~~Is.

I lnsetl on spoor of two black I-hino li>t111~1 cl111 I I I ~ a 1 ~ 1 1 t 40k111 \\~i~lhc[l c:~cl~ \wy, :111tl nl\cr tr~lhil~g lo Ad~iiin~st~.:~lor Mulir~di~in, the ~ x ) ~ ~ ~ l n l l o n oi'111i11o co~lltl he pr~cssli~nntcil :I[ 10-50 : I I I I I I I ~ ~ S

In Apiil 1996, N:umibia appointed a veterinarian, DI. f-1.O.IZeuter ns their I-liino cnol.dinaiol: 1-1.0, as lie is com~~~only kno\vn, 11us niiu~y ye:lrs cspc~. ie~~cc with the N:l~l~il>ia~i (;:111ie C:I]I~LII.C I ll~it.

Namibia11 1.1iino c o r ~ s c ~ - v : ~ t i o ~ ~ ~ I ; I I I t ~ j ) ( l : ~ t ~ ( l

In 1996 Nnmibin revised a t~d t~pcl:~l~:[l its N:1tio11:1l r1ii11o corlsel~rntion plan.

i 5 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997

IZWANIDA

$OUT14 AI.KICA

W W has repo~teti [hat in Octobcr 1996 Sour black I-hino were seen ill

A!,:lgera Nntiollal Park. The Park r~~anagerncnl :~~~t l~or i ty , the Office I<\val~d:~is tlu 'li,urisrne et de 1':lrcs Nn1iorl:lus (OlUl'N) II:IS c o ~ l l i ~ - ~ ~ ~ c c l this.

I'rcviot~sly i t W:IS Ilio11g11t thnt the hl:~ck rllillo 111ipl11 1i:ti.e golle C S ~ ~ I I C (

in the 1'nl.k following heavy poaching :I( tI1e time of tlic civil ~ a r .

lievisetl S o l ~ t l ~ Af' l - ic i~~~ bl:~clc rl~illo co~iset.v:~tion l)l;~n published

Tlie Rhino Ma~lngerncnt Gr.oup (IUvlG) has published a thoroughly re\!iscd South African hlack rliirlo cor~se~v:ition ~ I : I I I md dis l r i l ) t~ t~~l i t \viclely to 1111 tile I I I : I I I : I ~ C I I ~ C I I ~ :III(! scicntilic te:uns charge(! \\,it11 conserving black rl~iilo in Soutl~ Ali-icn.

'fhe plan was compilcd by the l<M(;'s C ' ~ I : I ~ I I I ~ ~ I I , r)r M : I I ~ ~ I I R~.ooks 1111d K ~ I ~ I I A(Icoch

- the conserv:~tion goills for the three subspecies of black I-]lino in Sotitll Africa,

1 46 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997

manngernenl, includirrg protection. ~naintninirrg gcnctic diversity, 111:111nping fix ~ i i a s i ~ n u ~ r ~ p~.oducti\'ily, csti111i1ti11g C:II 1\1i11g c:rp:~city : r ~ r t I

~no~~itoring blacL 111i11o pop~11, 'I L ' 1011s.

that this wns a crime of grccd and not ~ ~ c c d . On the count ofthe illegal ~~osscssior~ of ~ I I C r h i ~ ~ o horn, the T O I I ~ wc~.c l i~~ct l a total of 1185,000 (Err morc tha~t the Ilom was worth on lhc loc:rl illegal n~nrket), or face i~~rl)~'ist~nmenI totalling 9 )c:ll-s 3 irlorrtl~s i l l jail.

Atltlitio~l:~l li~rcs tot:~llilrg 1232,000 or i ~ ~ ~ p r i s o r ~ n i e ~ ~ l Ibr n total of 3 years 7 nlotltl~s wcrc lla~~tlcd dowrl on l l~c cot1111 of the illegal possessior~ ofthe tusk.

I ' l~e magistrate, was q~~nlecl i l l the prcss as snying "it n111st hc clc:a- to ~)col>lc \\flio do tllc actual illcgal l ~ r ~ l ~ l i r ~ g III:II ~ I I C cot~rt \\ ' i l l 1101 fillcl i t dillicult to imprisor~ then^".

ngg~.watic>n of sc~~lcnces ~.el:riing to li~rrr ~lcol~le c:ollvictcd ofllrc illcg:~l POSSCSS"~~II o fo r~c l.l~irro 11or11 and onc clcl)l~:~nt 111sk. .T'lrc AITISCi :rlso ~ l l ~ ~ ~ [ > : l l ~ L \ ~ l :l tloc~tlllrcllt ror illc ~ C I I I I I

cnll)l~:lsisi~rg l l~c scrio~~sucss ofllre cl.iluc nntl the need Ibr adcqunle scntcncir~g to nct as n deler~cnt tu poIc~rti:~l ~ I . ~ I I I ~ I I : I ~ S .

12csults o r t l~c 1996 Ali.icnn I211ino C)\\;l~e~.s Associntio~~ (ARC)A) survey nf Lllc status ofsouthcrn \vliite rhinos c111 11-ivnte land by 0:1nt1 D11i.j~ :~nd Thco P:il)c~~fi~s show thi~t sirrce 1094, I I I I I I I ~ > ~ I . S orr ~)~.iv:~lc I : I I I ~ ill South Ali-icn h:~\re co~~lir~uetl tn incrcasc to

17 AFRICAN RHINOS

an estimated 1,475 rhinos in over 144 populntions.

N:~tur:~l ~ x ) ~ ~ ~ l : i t i o ~ l gro\"11 was (he prilnn~y I.eirson Ibr this increase, will1 the buying or additional ar~ir~lals tiorn State-nm reserves accounting for a s~nallcr pe~.cct~tage.

A rclx)rt OIL lhc recent sul-t ep :~plic;rretl in h e l i h i ~ ~ o C% IIJlcpl~n~rl For~nda(io~~ (REF) Sour nal ond details can also be found at \n~\\~.\\lildnelafi.ica co za/~.llino/ref/su ~vey.htm and the AROA web site (see page 22).

'rhe 1996 \\l~ite rhino populalion c s l ~ ~ ~ r : ~ l c li)~ I Ilulrluwe-ll1111'01o~i l'n1.k (Ali-icn's sccorid largcsl pol)ulation) is 44 1 lo\tre~ t l i n ~ l the 19911 esli~nillc ol' 1 ,805 I l~iuos. ' 1 ' 1 1 ~ lo\ver cstimate appears to be due to a cornliinatio~r of 1 ari~~lrle I~inses I)cl\\~c.clr lirre 11 i~l~scct srrr\'cys (11s I11e I996 eslimatcs were lowe~' fol- almost all species), dife~.cnces in survey methodolo~ in the \vildcrncss area of tile Park (wl~erc p o i ~ ~ t tlcr~sity esti~nntion \v:~s I I S ~ ~ for t11c Ii~si t i ~ ~ ~ c ) , :IIICI 111e I C I I I O V : ~ ~ or

June 1997

320 r l~ i r~o by the Natal Parks Board for corlservation reasons lietueen sunleys.

. . I Ile retlrrccd csti~n:rtc is 110 c : ~ ~ ~ s e li)~ concerm, as [lie ohse~vcd co\v-cnll' ratios indicake the population is continuing to l ~ r ecd well, and there were n o reports oI'po:~cl~i~~g ~ C ~ \ V C C I I

' 1 ' 1 1 ~ I IC : I~ or S\\ , :~~,i l~~~rtl 's l3ig ;:l11 IC

[-'arks, ' l td Keilly, rcpol-ts an e~~cou~.agi~lg illcrease i l l lhc Kir~gdoni's rhi~lo [ )op~~ln t io~~ . Srnveys of Swazila~ld's 1.11inc) reserves hi~ve r~\~c:iletl :I ~ I I C ~ L . ~ I S L ' i l l \vl~ite l-lri~~o I I ~ I I I I I I C I . ~ o \ ~ I . I I I C I):IS( Ilu'ce years.

'I'h~s follows n trau~ucitic Ibul--!rear period in which S~vaziiand lost :~lrnost 70'x1 ol'ils ~ l r i~lo to

co~r~rr~e~cis l ~)o:~cl~e~.s ill :III : I V ~ I ; I ~ C


rntc of ;~l,or~t onc rhino cvc~y t\\m \\ccks

111 \\*11:11 I ~ C ~ I I I ~ C S C I I I ~ o ~ l c of the I . ~ C L ' I I ~

success stories of Ali-ican rlli~lo conscr\.t~tiou, security nrld legislrllio~~ II:IVC I I C C I I tiy,l~lc~~ccl 111) 10 I I I C cs1c11t t11:11 1101 cwc I I I I ~ I I I : I ~ II:IS I ~ C C I I PO;ICIIC(I ill ~ I I C K ~ I I ~ : I ~ ~ I I I si~~cc: I > C C ~ I I I I ~ ~ I . l992

S\v:lzil:~rltl's blaclc ~+l l i i~o l)opr~l:ttio~l I)olsterqetl I)y ad t l i t i ou ol' sis more n n i n ~ n l s

, . l he ~i~.o,icct \\.:IS S I > ~ I I I S O ~ C ~ :IS :I gill 1'1.0111 I I I C 1'1.csicIc11t of t11c I<cp~~ljlic of Cl~in:i 011 'l 'ni\vnt~ to l-Iis M:~.jcsiy King M~\vi\ti I l l .

Mr Mas MUI~:III-l)avies has I)CCII :lppoi~lted ;IS thc IICW Tanzanian 1.11ino cor)rdi~~:~lor.

I lis ~n:!ior ~.csl>o~isiliilily \ \ . i l l hc 1 0

coortli~l:~tc i11I r l~ i~lo cc~rlsc~.v;~tio~~ activities ill ' l ' n l l z i~ t~ in in i ~ ~ c o ~ r l i ~ n ~ c \ v i r l ~ tlie N:~tio~~al I'lal~, as \yell as acting as the sccrcti~rint of the N:~iionnl Rllirlo Co~lscntatinn Commiltcc. Thc Inltcs body will coniprise rel)resc~~tativcs of the Ihrcc n~nin nlarlagerllc~~l :~r~lhorities in the cout~t~y - the 'I'nrlz:~r~i:ln Division of Wildlirc in t l~c b1i11ist1-y of Na~ionnl Rcsources arlcl 'l'o~lris111, ' h n z a ~ l i a ~ ~ National I'arks ('I'ANAPA) and the Ngorot~goro Al.ei~ Co~lsclvalion A~~lllorily.

AlRSG I I I ~ I I I ~ > ~ I . S I )rs Mikc Kliigl~t and l'etc Morkcl ol'llle N:ltional I':~rks Bo:I I .~ o f South Afi-ici~ hnvc lust rctulncd li-o111 'l;lr~zailia ulierc they licld meetings Ivitli local co~~ser \ . ;~ t io~~is ts nrltl visilctl h/lkorn:~zi C; ; I I I I~ IZcscr\.c i r ~ no1 tllc~ I I

Tanza~~ia \ v i t l ~ :I view to the possible


re-establishment of a ~ )o l )~~ l t r t io~~ of 13. h.nrichoeli in Mko~ll:~zi.

Ilcser\te Inaliagcr l imy I:itzjol~n has conll~leted the elec~rilietl fencing r1ro1111d the reselve, i11u1 (IIC sccul-ity on the ground appears to be good. Co l~cc~ ns that lind bee11 ~.;liscd nhoul 1I1e ~~ttiti~(les o f ~ ~ e i g l ~ l > o ~ ~ ~ . i ~ ~ g co~nnlrlnitics sun-ouncling l l~e Ilcse~ve \itere also disci~sscd

It looks likely that 1:1te1. this year ;I

I'ourltle~. group of five I).h.trriclrneli \\,ill hc caught in Atltlo I l lepl~n~~t Nt~tional Park in Soutl~ Africa and rei~~t~.oduced into Mko~ll:~zi

Mr Morgarl-Davies is I ) ~ : I I I I I ~ I ~ ~ to s ~ ~ r v c y t \ ~ o areas ill the Scloi~s Gnri~e Itcsc*l-\fc kllowll l0 I l i l \ ' ~ slll:lll I~l~eedi~lg polx~lutiol~s ol'I)l~~ck ~ . l~ i r~o .

t l~c t\vo i lre:~~, and lo decitle \\d~c~.c Intensive l'rotection Zonds (Il'Z's) should hc set up to protect \he rc~ni~ining rl~ino

Security steppecl up i l l

Ngo~*ot~go~*o crater

As ;I ~.csrlll of~~oaclri~lg, 1l1c 13. / I . ~ ~ I I C / ~ ~ J ~ / ~ bl:~ck r11i11o pol)t11111io11 ill the crater has dccli~letl l io~n ill)

esti~l~:~ted 20 in 1992 to olllg 12 i l l

1 996.

I < I I O I I I (It1 .l'oit, I < ~ c I I ~ I I c I 1~111sIic. K ~ I - ~ I I Adcock ancl 01' I lolly D u b l i ~ ~ \vcre able to assist during the ~ I ~ I I I I ~ I I ~ pl~nsc I)y i~tlvisi~~g OII

stll.vey technitlt~es, s:11111>1e tlcsigri allcl c l i~ tn analysis.

'I'he PI-inia~y aini of the proposed Sclous s u ~ ~ e y s is to detcnliine the tlis~~.ibutio~l n~vl I I U I I I ~ ) ~ . I . S of I I~ino in

?'he AIRSG is It~erefore pleaset! lo

lean1 tI1:11 i l l a coopernti\~e venll1l.c het\vce~l the Ngo~.orlgoro Area Co~lservr~tio~i Antliority whicl~ Inallagcs t l~c crnter, and tllc I"~.i~l~kli~rI Zoological Society, securily i n Ihc erillcl. has heen increasecl . No 0112

csccl)r nnii-poaching statl'is r~ow c~ll<~\\~ctl ill tllc cl-t~lc~. i~l\cr tlil~.k.


As il l Nanli1)in i~nd Kcrlya, black rl~inos on 11ri\~:1tc land i n Zi~nl)al~\vc :~rc looked :111c1. 011 n ctlstodinnsllil) 1):lsis p~.i\~i~lc: I~III(!~)\ \ ;IIC~S, l111tinlIy. 111.ivi1tc c ~ ~ s t v ( l i a ~ ~ s l ~ i ~ ) \\,;IS

s c c ~ pr~rclp 11s :III "insr~rnncc policy" for the spccics, arld i l l 1989 o~ily 0% of the coruit~y's ~ . l ~ i r ~ o \vcrc llcltl i l l

this W.?.. NUIIII)CI.S of black rlli~ios or1 ~lri\.ntc l a ~ ~ c l cllal~gcrl littlc I I L . ~ \ \ ~ C . U I I l 989 a~id 1994 ( 160- l G l), in II : I I -~

Iiccnusc of sub-optimal pe~%>~-rli:~~lcc oI'al~i~u:~ls i l l o ~ i c collscl-\::lllcy as n ~csult o l ' i ~ ~ i l i : ~ l o\~cl.stocki~ig.

I lo \~e\~er . I I I U I . ~ rccer~l l lllc t~~anslocatici~~ oI :~t~i~nals lo set up 11c\v co r~sc~ \.:~r~cics i l l I)ctlc~. l - l ~ i l ~ o

Iiabitac in tlic %ir~~bab\ve lo\v\~clcl I1:lve provecl \.cl y s~~ccess(i~l liy IC)95, 00'>/:1 ( I ')O) of%i~n\)i~l)wc.'s 17olwlatio11 \v:ls i l l custodiansllilj o r 1

private li111t1, :III(I I\\,[> of IIICSC ~>olwl:~tio~ls Ililvc sitlcc I ~ c c o ~ i ~ c ~ . i~t rd :IS KC). 2 ~)ol>ul:~tio~~s by tllc AIIISC;.

111 tllc casc ot'S:~\~c Vallejf C'o~~scr\~a~lcy, t11c i~ltroductio~i 01' hlirck rl~il~os I~cll)uil act :IS ;I c;~l;~lysr 1 0 cl1;lllgc Iillltl llsc' 10 &!illllc, l ~ ~ l l l ~ i l l g il l i ~ ~ t c ~ . l ~ n l I ; ~ ~ I I Icl~ces allcl all ci~ttlc

being I crr~ovcd from thc nrc:l. Espcl-icllcc li.oln case stutlics of Mi~tlik\\f~ [I I ICI 1'11i11d:i (~ji1111c Kcscl-vcs i l l Sorlth Africa, nl~d a local i~ivestipi~tion of the ccorio~iiics of game conservation in Uic semi-arid Zirr~h:lhwc lowveltl by itltcrnntionally I.CIIOWIIC(~ i~ccounta~~ls I'l.icc- W;~lc~.l~ollsc ilitlicnletl l l ~ r ~ l Illc cl1:111go to gnlllc i l l l~\ \~velt l r l ~ i ~ ~ o co~lsc~v:~r~cics \\.ill crci~te 111or-e, better l~a i id jobs, generate 111ol-c forcig~~ income, and will I)c econc)~~~ically and ecolvgicallp more sustai~~nl>le than cattlc ~.nr~ching, as well :IS licinp less susceptihlc to Ihc etl'ects of pc~.indic drougl~ts.

With Uie pri\s:~te sector custodians piryi~lg l i~r the malinge~rlc~lt of rhinos 1111 ~ ~ I I s c : I ~ \ ~ : I I I ~ ~ ~ s , t11c l ) L ! ~ I : I I ~ ~ I I I ~ . I ~ ~ or Nntiol~:~l I':I~-ks and Wiltllife Mani~gcl~ic~~t (I>NPWI.M) 113s I>CCII :~lilc to concor~tralc its c1li)l.t~ :~ntl budgct 011 p~utecting llic r c r~ la i~ i i~~p rhinos il l Intensi\.e I'rotcclion Zones \\:iQ~in its I':I~-ks.

IPZ had been tre~nendouslp successful, ;111tl the black rlii~lo 11:ltl

I)cai I>~.ectli~~g vc~y wcll.

'I'hcrc has b c e ~ ~ a lull in poaclii~~g ovcr thc last t\ifo pears, tvith no rhinos known to have been poached in 199.5. For thc fi~st time ill tcr~ ycins, I I I I I I I ~ ~ C I S ol'I)oth hlnck n ~ ~ t l

~v l~ i t c rliinos in Zi~nbahwc :~rc starting to incl1 up\vards ag:~in

Zinlbnbwe rllino policy review

At the request of lUCN ruld the Zi~rlbal>we Depnrtrr~ent of Nntio~~nI Parks nlltl Wiltllife hlar~ngcltlrnt, the AIRSG C~I:I~IIIIIIII , Dr Mi11ti11 Brooks. C I I I C I ~ W O otlier AfRSCi r~~enll>el-s, I)r Ilolly Dul~lir~ n ~ l t l

Professor Nigel 1-eader-Willir~rl~s, participated ill n review of Zimbabwe's I)l;lck rhino 1n)licy l~eltl it1 Decer~~l)er 1096.

\ V ~ i t t e ~ ~ e\ri~l~~i~lior~s were s ~ ~ l ~ ~ ~ l i t t e d . I I I I ~ I n ~ ~ C S C I I I ~ ~ ~ ~ I I give11 wl~icli tlescrilletl the critical filcto~s for consen~il t io~~ success inclr~tling the value of 11a1 t nerslii 17s betweell [lie State ancl otller role pliiyers. Several of tile sl~ggesliol~s were atlol~tetl for illclrlsio~~ i l l the new 1w)licy.

'fhc I<liino Milr~;~gc~r~crlt (i1o11l> of s o ~ ~ l l ~ c ~ 11 Niica (RM(;) ~ v i ~ s fol~lled in 19 89 by South Ni-ic:~ :~nd Nnrnil>irl In 1996, particil~:~tion was cstc~~dcd to S\\v-izilnntl i ~ ~ l i l

Zimbabwe, tliel-cby widcning its rcgio~~i~l i~~flrle~rcc

While t l~c p:~~ticipaling collrlt~-ies opcrflc u~~ t l c r tlicir o\tfli couril~y ~~lilns, :)I1 bcncfit tl~rougl~ t l~c dcvcloprncnt and sharing of rhino consc~vation pliilosopl~ics, slr:itcgies a ~ ~ t l i n h ~ ln a t' )on.

'I'he Afi.ica11 l<llino O\\lr~e~.s Association (AROA) hns been active ovcr tlic last year, and its membership continiles to grow AIZOA Chair.rnan, Mr Clive Walker, is :~lso :In AfRSG and RMCi me~~lher.

L I I I I ) ~ O \ ~ I I I ~ S C C I I ~ I I ~ O I L ivale I:111cl

has been a topic or discussion at AI<( )A ~r~eetillgs, : I I I ~ li)Ilo\\~i~lg li 0111

llr~s t l~c (;:umc lia~lgers ' I ' I . : I ~ I I ~ I I ~ Co- o~-di~lation Gror~p, i i ~ cooperation \\qi l l r the C ; ~ I I I ~ 1t:lngcrs Associ:~lio~l of Aliica (CiICA), is cornlilir~p :I

documcnt 011 ~liino security for the private lando\vner

'I'i~ose ir~tr~-estecl irl lintling out luol-e ~ I I ~ ~ I I I I AI?OA, its got~ls : I I I ~ (~cti\*ilics C:III \ isit tl~eir Well Sile at

RESG fo~.med

The security sub-conunittee ofthe Rhino Management Ciroup of soutl~ern Ni i c :~ (RMG) II;IS bee11 recnnstituled :IS Ihe Rllino ancl Elcl)l~onl Sec~irity C;roup ~~ 'S~I I I I IL ' I . I I Ni-icn.

Ils mission is ..

'I'he IIMCi :mtl RESG will c o ~ ~ t i ~ l r ~ c to coo~>ernlc closely, :IS a rcpl-csentative ot'tlle RESG will continue to sit as a rneriibcr of the IWG.

coordinator; and in July 1996, the RIZSG :~lso ~)uhlislied a short ''A!<~~rter. I'l~iri for ,Ire , \ i .~lfl ' i f~~ of

I~lritro ( I I I , ~ ~ I e j ~ I r ~ ~ r f ill kSo~/t/ret.~~ qpicu".

insight arid data on their work in consllrncr and rnngc States.

'I'l~e rcport higl~ligllls t l~c ~rcctl li)r cir'ectivc field protection, and tllnt

although some support for rhino conselvntiorr has I-~ccn fo~lhcorninp ~ ~ O I I I 1l1c i~~lcrllntio~lal con~l~lunity. ovcrnll lcvcls of suly,o~-t 11:rvc 1>cc11 dis:~ppoi~~ti~lg, : I I I ~ l11:1t el1.01-ts 11ccd to bc letloubled to i~lcrc:~se lcvcls of si~pl>ort for ficltl 1.1iinoceros couser\!ation.

For further inlo~mation or to obtain a copy of the report contact.. The

TRAFFIC report on Rhino I Executive IIirccto~; TRAFFIC

In 211 cffort to tlelemiine lhc response Ily I':~rtics to Ilcsolutiou Corlf. 9.14, 'I'KN;I;IC untlcl-took :I rctqie\v of tr:~de contl-ol legislation CITES rclalcd :rctivilics :~ntl c o ~ ~ s c ~ v r ~ l i o ~ ~ :~ctivitics in 14 rhinoceros range Slates and 18 consumer Srntcs. Thc

't'1tAliFIC 1C;tst-Asin l~oltls symposium to cliscr~ss 'I'~~:t~Ii~io~~;rl E:rst AS~:III hledicirle

r c l ~ ) ~ ? I)y SIIC Mninkn is bcirlg I-clc:~scd to coincitle with the (el~tll meeting of the Confcl-ence of the IJal-ties to CITES being held in l-I:uare, Zimbnbxve in June 1997.

1U1i1lo 1101-II II:IS hccn :I kcy i~~gr.c(lic~~l in Chinese ~l~etlicines for over 2,000 years n . iU i r t l i~~o honl being lislcd in :l11 ancient Cl~ir~esc Pl~ar-rnacolog~ .lest, "'l'he Divit~c Ploughrr~nn's

'l'l?Al~l~lC : I I I ( I WWl: ofliccs, :IS \\~cll :IS the AIRSC; nud AsllSCi, ~)rovidcil

I-lcr.hnl", I\ riflcn nl.ount1 200 R C to 200 AI 1, 'I'o~lt~y, * I . I~ : I~ I~I~~I I I I I I;:Is~ Asian Mcdicitlc ('fEAM or TCM)

24 AFRICAN RHINOS

praclitioners still use rhino Ilorn to heat life-II~reate~~i~lg fevers 111ld OIIICI- conditions lrldecd ~liillo IIOIII is one ofnI'('M's nlosl ~.e\~cr.c.tl i~lgrctlic~lls

I'he '1'lUl+'lC 1)rograIillne i l l

consrimer countries II:IS untlergo~le a shif lowarzls g:li~~irlg :I deeper ur~cle~.stn~~(li~~g of tile sociological : I I I ~

~IIIIII~:II 1111tlc1 pi1111i11gs t11'1.11i11o 110111

irs:lgc in 'I'ri~dilior~trl lios~ Asinn Medicine ('I'EAM or 'I'CM) 'I'he TCM co~l l~nu i~ i~y has heen itleritificd as co~lil)risi~lg critical (1ecisio11- makers ~ I I tile r l~ i~lo h0111 equation.

initial progl.ess w:~s n~ntle ill 1992 \\'he11 TMI:I;IC orgnrlised n

\\ro~~kstiol~ ~ I I ~I'II~\\~:III, tvl~icll l'or t11c lirsl lime hrougllt logcthcr ']'CM ~~-:~clilioncrs, govel-ruller~t rctgulators and conscl-v:~tionists.

In 0ctobc1. 1995, a W W : I I I ~

TRAFFIC- s l~o~~so~-c t l symposi~~~n \vns cor~\~c~lctl nritl ;~t tc~~detl I1y 'I'CM delegates Ii.on~ C'llinn, I long Kong, Singapore, Sour11 Korea ancl Jnp:ul, :IS \\lcll irs :lc:~cle~l~ics, ~ O \ ~ C I . I I I I I C I I ~

onicials n~ld consen-:ltionists.

The co~nj>osiliorl of the deleg:ltes and obsc~.t~crs rn:lui~l~iscd Asi:111 pa~licipation, :~llo\\.i~ig 'I'CM s~icci:~lisls t l~ t* Iir,sl Ii111c cve~. to he :I( the cerllre of an i~~ternatio~inl

forutn on 11ow wildlife conservatior~ aficts TCM, ar~tl Ilow TCM all'ects wildlife co~lselv :I t' 1011.

Judy Mills, Di~.cctor of 'I'RAI:I:IC East Asia, tvritcs in 1'IWl;IC Disl)dches (Janrta~y 1996) that the symposium indic:~ted that:

. . - 1I1e1.e is il strol~g cultural alttlcll~ne~~t to l l~c nlcrits ol"1'CM. I'raclilioncrs feel that TCM is of\cn viciously r~lalig~~ed ill tlle Wcste~rl press, ancl that the West sl~ould not seek to legislate moral / heultl~ care choices in the Eilst. Delegates at the conkrence cited the "i~~sult i~lg ]"q)e~~sity of Wcsterner.~ to eno~~cously c l a i ~ ~ ~ t l l i ~ l tllc primil~y use of rhino horn is as an aphrodisii~c" .

- T11c1.c is :I lnck ofu~rtlel-str~~~tli~~g of the lirk bct\vecu TCM and tviltllili: corlsc~~nlion. Cor~su~ners tvro~~gly helicvc Illat the i~npact of 'I'CM is inconsequential or n l i~~or .

- ' 1 ' 1 1 ~ 'I'C'M C O I ~ I I I I I I I I ~ ~ ~ is tvilli~lg 10 ehplore itlcas for limiling thc use of mctlicinal pl.otlr~cts G-o~n er~tlangc~.ecl species; for exa~nple - h) limiting their use to emcl-gericy situnlions. Dclcgntes esp~.essed some tloubt nl)oul tllc rbllic:~cy of s ~ ~ l ) s l i t ~ ~ l c s .


- The 'I'CM c n ~ n n ~ u n i l ~ ~ I'elt that halls were not \\'orking as they stimulate 1 ~th&;iAfiic&n I ii + ? X . ~~ofilccring I I I I ~ I give rise 10 t1111ck 111nrket tradi~lg. Scve~ n l tlelegntes nt Ihc collfe~-c~ice e~nl>l~:~siscd th:~t they were respectable heallh care ~~rnvitlcrs, allcl not criminals; I ~ n t th:~t I in~~s OII life-sn\,iug rnetiicirials "li)rcctl" Illc111 into hrci~king l l~c In\+!

'I'hcrc is a strong I~elief nmong the 'I'CM cornr~lnnity lllat cal~tivc hreetlinp ant1 fa-mir~g ol'endangerctl species might be a solul~on.

'I'he ' K M community felt i t \vas hcinp railrontled into giving up rhi~lo I~orn, ~vhich tlley \fietvetl ns a life- s:~vir~g ingrctlienl. They felt t l ln t tllc ~ L I I T I ~ I I ~ of horn was "oll'ensivc". I t nppe:ws that the resent~llent created has :~licnntctl so111c 'I'CM ~)ractitioncrs in coopcl r~ting ill tile ~cspo~~s ib le use of wildli1.e dcri\vntivcs.

Clea~ ly the 'I'CM corn~urlnity r~lust he 111or1~l1t illto thc CITES p~occss. 'I'llc challc~~gc li)r tllc fi~lurc lics il l :~tltlr.cssing tl~cse conccrlls, : I I I ~ in enlisling the TCM conlmunity as n pvsi~itfe force in I~niting the tlecli~lc of rhino pol~ulatiot~s in :~iTected range

l3y 1995, p~.ivate Inr~do\vrie~-s \verc consc~~ing close to 20'%1 nrld 16Yn respectively of the remaining tvhile :uld black rhinos in the wild.

Ofthe \rhilc rlii~los on land not mani~gcd by State conscn~nliorl dcpn~~l~nenls, 9 1 'XI were p r i ~ ~ ~ l c l y o\\lnccl. By way of contrnst, Ille pattern with black rhinos ditycrs, ns nlrnost 87% of the hl:lck rhinos on ~)rivntc larltl tverc 1101 o \ \ ~ I I c ~ , 1)i1I managed on a c~lstotiiar~shi~) I~asis li)r the Stnte. A furtlicr 7.4% of l)lnck tllir~os occrlr in corl11111111nl I : I I I ~ or i l l

tuunicipal/county council-run I'nrks.

111 Sout11 Afric:~ i l l p:~~-tic~~l:~r. live salcs of wl~itc n ~ l t l black rhinos to 1I1e pri\rirtc sector hate generated rnucl~ needcd revenue for conse~vation depn~-trnents.


..----

~ ~ t ' o t l ~ ~ c e t l to ; ~ i d those in t h e

ficltl

Correctly ageing nni111als car1 contrihu~e to (he success of re-cslnhlishmcnt I>rogr:rlnrncs. A ~ c (lilt3 is :\!SO rrccded to i~ccuri~tcjy ~wedict or i11lcl-lxcl tllc I)rccdi~~g r l ~ ~ d social ~)cr lbn~~nncc ol ' :~ ~~oljr~li~tio~r.

f which in 111171 can con~ribu~c to imlxovcd biological tlecision-lnaking \virh n j7ie\v (v rr~ail~taining high ~nelnpopulation growth rates.

C;i\'cn Illat :~ccuri~lely rslin~:~ting the 11gcs (>l'bli~ck 1.11ilio :~ssists i l l their t:ol~sel.vaIio~~ I I I ~ I I I ~ ~ C I I I ~ I I ~ , :IIICI t l~c facl [hul tl1cl.c w:ls room for i~nlwuvc~nent i n lllc lielcl, tile World Witlc I ' L I I I ~ ~ [;or N ~ [ I I I ~ (WWl:-Sot~tl~ AIi,ic:~), E~~dilrigeretl Wiltllife 'I'lust and Wild Solutions s[)ol~sorcd some rle\i1 I - ~ S C ~ I I ' C ~ I , arltl lllc coll:~lior~ of exisli~ig \\lurk 011 age i~~p 11). ;I ~ l i ~ ~ ~ ~ h e r of 1.11ino dsl)e~.ts \ v i l l ~ thc spccilic i~inl ol'l)~'o(lllcir~g 1111 ill~~tl.i~Ictl guidc to i\gCing l~li~ck r11i11o l)y Y ~ I I . ~ ( ~ ~ I S d i lk re~~ t ~~~c t l lods .

Group of So~~tllern Africii RLL' '1011

(SOII~II Africit. N:1111il)in, Z~IIII)~IIIWC~ n l ~ c l Swazila~ld).

The methods were del-ived pn~-~iculasly for D.h,nrinor-, but iStl:~tn arc nv:~ilnblc, adirptntiol~s corlltl 11c

I rnilde to tlra~v up ageing criteria specilic to olher ecotypes.

For Illore ilifor~llatio~~ COII~RC( Key11 Atlcnck, 1'0 Box 1212, Ililtoll. Soutll Africa, 3245. 0 (+-27) 331 434065 or E-II IH~~

Olganised collective prograrrlmes at :I region:~l le\,el (like SSP in No1 111

A I I I ~ I ic:~ r l r ~ t l the E131J in Europe) a ~ c undel-w:~y and aim to improve rn~~nilgeli~cr~l all(! 1>ro1)i1g111io11 01' rlli~los in cal>tivity.

As rl~irlo Ilrlsl)i~l~d~y irlltl tlicls lrnvc irnlmntetl i l l leecot yenrs, so llas pcrfor rnnrrce. tlowc\rel-, wit11 a fcw ~iolable exceptions whele larger groups of rhinos arc kept in Inl-ge pnddocks, the pm-formance of Ali.icnr~ 111i11os i l l captivity still ~ .e lnai~~s I)oor., n~ld well bclow t l~c


gro1vl11 ralcs olltained in protected \vi Id ~~opu ln t io~~s .

C a p t i v e b~-ee t l ing ins t i tu t ions

inc~.e;~sirtgly supper-t wild

~ * l ~ i n o c o n s c ~ r a t i o r ~ clTor.ts

Sntlly, ntte~npts to cal~tive-breed Su~l~atl.an 111irlos have so far hecn clisostrous, with Ilalf of those ca~lurcd (lying, and IIO calves having yet becn captive-bred O n n positivc nolc, t l~e ir~crcas~r~g trend lou':lrds giving caplive Surnntrnn ~liinos ncccss to ~~nddocks of natural hahital has resulted i l l obsenctl matings in

1995 ll~erc were 664 white, 223 hlnck, 134 Indian, 2 1 Sumatran arid 110 I:IV:II~ ~ . l ~ i i ~ o s in captivity nforltl- wide. Ily 1997 wl~irc rhino nun~bcrs Il:~tl rnargin:~lly tlccli~lctl to 655, brit hlilck ~.llinos l~atl sliph~ly incrcasctl to

t l~c Scl~ilok Ma11:lgcd I3rccdir1g C c ~ ~ t r c in Sallnli, Mi~laysia. llol~ehrliy calves will soon I-esrlit.

In reccnt years c:lptive, breeding ins\itutions wol-ldwirlc l~avc incrcasirlgly tloiri~tctl rul.ltls to ilssist r11i11o ccl~~se~viitior~ clTc)~ts ill t l~c wiltl.

Attcnll~ts at ;l11 ARSG \vor ksl~op to cngagc the two zoos cul-rently in ~~osscssior~ ol'll~c \vor ltl's nine ~.e~naining captive ~rc)llhem \vl~itc rhil~o (Dvur Kralovi~ C% San I liego) in :I joint cunsc~-\'alion il~ilintive to eslnl~lish a sccol~d liw-ranging

, 1101~1Inlion u~ifo~.~u~~:~tc ly I:liletl.

. -

suppolting wild rhino conservation include The International lihino Foundation (IRI'),Thc Zoolocical Society of London (ZSI,), the Wildlife Conservation Society , Franklilrt Zoologicr~l Society (FZS), t l~c Arncricnn Associatin~~ of Zookccpcrs and otllcr UK was through the Ilhinos in Crisis Appeal.

n large haul of rhillo Ilo~ns \\,ere scizcd ill L o ~ l t l o ~ ~ in Scplc~nl)c~ 1996

* , 1 Iris i~nl)orlnnt brlst follo\vetl unde~.co\~er w o ~ k Ijy IISPCA staff who I~nd bee11 olt'ercd the 1101 ns for snlc. Following confil malion of the lcgislnlior~ i~~volvctl 11y the U K Depar-tmenl uf the E~rviroruncnt. Lhc

28 AFRICAN RHINOS 1997

p(>lice wel-c brougl~t in nritl Ille suspects (all British citizens) were nr rcstc(I by t l ~ c South I lnst Region:~l Cl iinc Squi~tl. A toli~l or 124 rl~ir~o Ilorns i n four tea cl~esls were seizctl. Most of the I I O I ~ n1)pe:rr.s to have been oltl.

O l~c r :~ t io~~ Mo~.cllo was ;In C S C C I I ~ I I ~ csn~nl)lc of gootl cool~cl.:~tio~~ hct\ \fec~~ agcl~cies, i ~ r ~ d rcprcser~ted :I nlnjor. hre:~kll~ro~~gh in tl~o light :~p:~inst illep:ll 11-atle in rl~ino honi.

rhino range S(i1tes

'I'his prol3osal \vns i l l keeping with CI'I'ES Kesolutio~~ Colif. 9. I I\ whicl~ ernl~hnsises t l~c need to e s p a ~ ~ t l f ~ ~ ~ ~ t l i n g sourccs, including reinvesting revenues deri\'ed Srorn Il~c 11sc ol'rhir~oceroscs, to ollkct tlio higl~ costs of tlleir cor~servatio~~.

1 lowever the nr~noti~tio~~ wils only until COI' 10 \vlicrc i t will be reviewed.

Rchearcl~ by the AfRSG and TRAFFIC (South Africa) found thnt 46 live white rhinos 11nvc 1lee11 espo~tetl ti.0~11 Soul11 Afiica since

At thc 9111 C'onfcreucc oI'(11c I'a~ties to CITES (COP g), an i~nnnt:~tcd ~ ) ~ o l x ) ~ l ~ l to d0\\711lis( ~ I I C Sot~tl~ Ali.1ci111 soull\c~ I I wlritc ~Irino li)r live inten~i~tionnl sales io i~l)pro\~etl br~ycrs, and l'or tlio (co~ltinuctl) c\po11 ot' legal hunting trophies or~ly,

COI' 9. Of tl~cse 16 were cor~sc~vi~tiorl tlo~lntior~s to n Ni1tio11:ll Park and a Idlino Sanctuary ( l O to Nil~~~ibin, i ~ r l ( l 6 10 I3olswnna). . . 1 IIC re~~rei~iing 30 \yere sold to :~I)~".OVCL~ I ) I I ~ ~ I . s and espo~ted (scc 'l'nl>lc on nest ~) i~gc) .

Export sitles of South African soutllern white rhino since COP9 I I ) C S ~ ~ I I : I ~ ~ O I I

Zoo

S:ll;iri ['ark

Safari Park

Zoo

Zoo

Zoo

P~-iv:~lc

P.1.13,

D.N.C.

* I'.B. = I'arks Board D.N.C. = Depai-trnent of Nature Conservation

I ~ ~ l l > o ~ - t i ~ ~ g C o ~ l ~ ~ t r y

Israel

'fl~:~ilnrltl

UK

Argentinn

M:ll:~ysia

M:111ysi:1

7,irnh:1bwc

Year

9 9 5

1995

1995

1995

1996

1996

I996

cn" <S Export Permit issued by ...

Nntnl I'H.

Nalnl I,B.

Natal P.B.

Gnulcng I1.N.C.

Ni~lnl I? B.

N:II:II P.13.

Crarllcr~g

Seller

Nntnl 1'.13.

Nnt:ll P.B.

Natnl P.D.

I'rivnte

N:~tnl p.n.

Nntnl l'.l3,

Nor111

N\IIIII)CI. of ~v l~ i t c rhinos expo~ted

2

10

G

2

3

2

3

30 AFRICAN RHINOS

Ol'tlic 3 0 whitc rhinos sold nlld eupolted ti-orn South Africa sirlce C( )l' 9, 5 Ililvc I)ccrl soltl to I'riv:ttc Gnnlc IIi~nchcs ill Afric:~, 16 to Safari Parks, a11t1 9 to 7,oos. Of the rhinos sold, 1 0 \vent to I'liniland, 6 to the UK, 5 to Mr~lnysi:~, 5 to 7,i111h:1l)wc, 2 to Isrncl n ~ ~ t l 2 to Argcntirl:~

13cforc cither t l~c Natnl Parks 13oartl or Ciautcrlg N:lturc C o ~ ~ s c ~ ~ n t i o r ~ 11:lve issued Export pennits, they hn1.e contacted the 1~'01)ostxI ~rnport~llg c t ~ t ~ ~ ~ h y ' s CITES nuthority asking tllem to co111ir-m tllc b o l ~ : ~ lides of the ~mchascr, specify for \vhnt I > L W I X ) S ~ S 111e 111 olmsccl Ilnport is tt~hilig pli~ce, :111tl if:lppropri:~te, tc) comment on thc suitabllltp ofthe l1;1l~it:11 Sol. l l ~ t * i ~ ~ l r i > ( i ~ ~ c t i i ) ~ ~ of 1 l11110

June 1997

domestic mnrkct inside Soull~ Afi-icn The average nuction price of wl~ilc rhil~os has ir~cteasccl sir~cc the doivrllistir~g, fullller i~lcrcr~sing incentives for the privnte sector to consclve I-hino. Nu~llbers ol'\vhite rhinos in South Africa have also incrc:~sctl sincc COI' 0.

'I'l1us ollc cllll collcllltlc lllill 1l1c CO]' 9 tlownlisting II:IS bellclittsd rl~ino conservutioo in South Africa.

Pt.opt.ess in cleveloping "iridic;~to~*s" of success

CI'I'ES Resolution Cold 9.14 clireclcd tIlc Sltu~tl i~~g Col11111i1tcc to evilluate tllc cn'ectiveriess of rhinoceros conservntion actions i111d to tlevelop z~pl~ropri:~te i~ltlic:ltors ol'succcss. I'olicics

should only be "to :~pl>rc>l>~-iate and ~ I C C C ~ ) ~ ~ I I ~ I C tlesli~~:~tions" h:ls Il~c~.di?rc I>ccrl i~tll~c~.utl to I>y Soutl~ Africa~l co~isc.~.\~ation authol-ities.

'I'l~c annolt~tiol~ specilj.irlg 111:1t i ~ ~ t c ~ ~ ~ i n l i c ~ ~ ~ n l trildc 111 live ~ I I ~ I I I ~ S

Since tI~e ninth mcctillg of tllc Conli.rc~~ce of the P:uiies, t l~c AIIISC; Ilas 1~cc11 i~hle to assist tllc Standing Corllrnittee in the task of'

guidi~lg ~ I ~ ~ ~ I - V C I ~ ~ ~ O I I S sI10111d also he responsive to such evnlr~i~tior~s.

31 AFRICAN RHINO ne 1997

'I'lic total t u ~ n o \ ~ c ~ . fi.0111 thc 30 :111imnls soltl :lt)ro;ltl sillce COP9 is i l l l l~c 1.cgiori ol' $277,000.

At the request of tile CITES Sccrctnriat, 11 \vol.ki~lg group of the AIRSG discr~sscd tlic issue nt its nlccting il l I;chru:~~y 1996. 'l'hc lnillutes ol'llle AIlISCi working group were then used as the slnrti~~g poilll to clcvelop lllc proecss SW tllcr li)llo\vi~lg \\-ider co~~sultntio~~. A prclirnir~il~y Ilriclirig tlocr~rncl~l on l l~c use of 'inriicntors' elltitlcd "To\+rards e\~:~lunting the ell'ecli\~cr~ess of rllinoceros conse~~at ion actions", w:ls then ~>l-eparecl for tlic CITES Stnrlding Committee. This briefing rlocument comprised a 'strntv dog' co~~textunl ~l~oclcl (frnn~cwork witlli~l wl~ic l~ i~ltlicntors operate); r ~ ~ ~ r l nlso or~tlinctl ho\v illtlicnlors of rhil~oceros numbcrs, indicators of C O I I S I I ~ I ~ I tler~ln~~tl, itidicntors of ficld conscrvatio~l cITofort and otllcr kcy indic:~tors could bc used to 11cll1 evalualc t l~e r~lerits of cuncnt i ~ l ~ t l ~)oLcl~linl f r ~ t ~ ~ r c coriscn:~tior~ slrnlcgics.

developing tllc stnudnrdizrtl indicators called for in the nbove l<esoll~tion.

'I'llc work tlo~lc 11, tlnlc II ; IS higl~liglitcd the ~ ( ~ ~ i i ~ l c x i t y of lllc t:lsk. T11cl c is nlso s ncrd to cor~sult fur thcl- and to il~clr~de ~linjor input froni the Asian Rhino Sl)ecinlist (irorll> nntl ii.o~n 'I'IWFIC.

'1'0 rnakc 1)rogress in thc

dc\clopmcnt of indicators, it will he neccss;lry to hold nt lcast two n~cclings. Sul>jcct to htltlgcta~y :1p1~rovd, thc CITES Sccrctar in1 \ \ t i l l prvvidctl~c lillancc ~~eetlctl to hold the meetings and dcvelop the ~ roccss frl~lhcr.

7'11~ first will he :I w o ~ ksllol) of nl>out 1 X cxpc~ 1s br i~lgillg togt'tlicr kcy people \ v i l l ~ specinlist kr~o\vlcclgc of the rlil~c~cnt nlcns of rclcvar~cc (trade in consumer ~nnrkets, iniplementation of trntle bans, lcvcls of field consentation cfrort, intcllige~lce on lcvels of ~ ~ ) : ~ c l i i r ~ g ant1 t1.ntle in r:111ge Stales, ch:lngcs in rhintxc~os I I I I I I I ~ C ~ S , ceo~~o~l l ics nlld dccisio~~- analysis), and should lllclutle ~cpresentatives of the ~najor r l~inocc~c~s range Slntes in Ali icn tuld Asin.

7i, ensulc thc lncctirlg is :IS

produc~i\~c as ~)c~ssiblc, C ~ I I I I I I C I I ~ S

on the \!'or k to date, and other. s~~ggcstious will \>C ~c-111 to il

dccisioll-nnnlysis esl)crt/I;:lciliti~t(~r for the production of 81 r evisctl 'stm~v-dog' co11tcxtu:11 ~iiodcl :~nd of a suggested proccss for tlcvelol)il~g intlicato~.~.

l

32 AFRICAN RHINOS

develop the process of tlccidi~~g how irrdici~tol-s c m be t~scd to nsscss :1ltc111i1lire collsel.vi~tiou s11 ;ltepies;

defille cacl~ v:~riahlc, nntl

itlentify key peoplc ar~d request them to collect tile necessaty data 11c~det1 to tle\*clop itltlicators (il~cluding tlclel.~~~ir~ing wl~:~t trstle ~.cscarch is rcquire(l in east Asia11 consturncl. cot11111~ics).

Ollce tl~e data (111 indic~~tors have bee11 oh ln i~~~u i tllcy will lie :111:1lysc.d illlcl il~lc~pl.etccl to sllcd light on the desirability uf cul~ent :lr~tl :~lIc.n~:~li\~c 1.11inocc1.o~ conscnlatior~ slri~legies. At tl~is sli~gc i I \ \* i l l pl.ol):~bly I)(: ncccsstily to hold the second, ~nuch analler ~llcclinp, to co~~~l l l e t c the ~>roccss, before producing a 1i11:ll repor-t on the r.es~ll(s Ibr- tllc CI'I'US S t i ~ ~ ~ t l i l ~ a Colnl~~iltcc.

June 1997

Soutl~ Niica has submitted a proposal to do\v~llist their so t~l l ler~~ wl~ilc rhir~o Io Appclltlis I for Iradz, but il~ilially \vitll n zero (1t10tiI. This ~irol>os:rl will I)c co~~sldcred at tllc Conference of the I'a~lics to CI'I'ES (COP 10) to be held in I Imare from the 9th to the 20th June 1997.

The proposed zero quot:~ nlearls that irrespective of any tlecisioils at C(.)P 10, tllc status q t ~ o - n ~nori~toriuln on inlcr~l:~lional tr-r~tic in rhino products will rcrnnirl Ibr the Ihreseeahle f~~trlre (until n

future CITIS COI' npllroves 11

noll-zelu tluota).

1'111: SA ~)I.OI)OS:II i l l ell'ccl sccks thc backing of CITES to invcslignlc the ~~ossiblc sc t l i~~g up of 11 legal tr:~tlc ill rhi~lo ~>roilucts :IS il l.llillo cc>nscl-~iltioll Illeilsul'e, and to dzterminc whether app~-op-inte co~lltuls could be set up to prevent illegal laundel.ing of ho1.11 \\lhicll coultl t h re i l~c~~ otl~cr rl~illo li~sr~

Thc supporting statenicnt to the Soutl~ Ali-ican proposal argues that n co~~trolled lcpnl t~adc would hcllctil 1.11i11o conservation Ily rctlt~cing the financial ir~ce~ltivcs for ille~:ll 11-adcrs, and pencrating n~uch rlccdcd rcventlc to offset the l ~ i g l ~ costs of liclcl 11li11o c o l ~ s e ~ ~ ~ i ~ t i o n .

Wllile l l~c sul)l>ortirlg stnlell~erlt to illc Sol~l l~ NI ican proposal recognises that thc ncccssaly controls for a Icgalisetl trade are not in place, an attachment suggests n possible fi.:lrne\vork anti sophisticated Iccluliqrles for co~~bolling sucli a lcpnl tl-:ltic.

. . 1 he cul-rent p1-oposal is in keeping wit11 CI'I'ES Kesolrltion Conf. 9.14 ~ I I : I ( cn~pl~:lsiscd the rlccd to csl1:111(l filnding sor~rccs, illcl~~dil~g "reinvesting revenues derived lioln Illc 11sc ol'rhi~~c~ccroscs t l l r~ t is colisistcnt will1 the C'onvcr~tior~, to ollsel tllc l ~ i g l ~ costs of ti1ci1 cor~scn~ntion"

Argunlcnts :lgainsl t l~e So~lth Aft ical~ proposnl arc concclried 1)rimnrily with \I hethcr it is ~~racticnlly possible lo set 1111

srllEcicr~t and cficlive al~ti- I : I I I I I ~ I C I i l~g C O I I ~ ~ O I S ;I[ all slngcs of Ihe ~woliosecl trade, and i l l so

June 1997

doing not put other rliino tasa at increnscd risk iiom poncllillg i l l

othcr range Stalcs. Incr cnscd poncl~ir~g I I I : I ~ occi~r il ' l)o~~cl~crs l~crceivc that they will he ablc to easily lau~idcr illegal 11ol.n tlllougl~ a fillure lcgal trade.

S I I ~ > ~ X ) I I for conti~lncd ir~vcstig:~tior~ allcl di:rlopuc co~~ccr-r~ing possiblc future trading colllcs fi.0111 ccor~or~~ists who llnvc argued that rhino h o n ~ trade halls are likely to have beet1 coul~ter- pl.otluctive by i) driving the t r ode undcrground, ii) increasing prices, iii) creating and maintnininp ol>port~tnilies for crilni~l:ll ~niddlelncn aild ollicinls (\v110 stand to lllake the bigpcst ~i~.ofits froln illcgnl kndiiig), iv)enstlring that the demand for 11ol-n as iI

tr:l(lilioll~~l EasI Asi:ll~ 111c(lici11c has to hc primarily supplied on :I

I I O I I - S I I S ~ ~ ~ ~ I I : I I ~ I ( ; (ie by kil l i~~g rl~irio) rather than sustainnldy frol~l tlchon~cd rhinos supplcnlel~ted by I~onl fronl lep:ll stockpiles (ic without killing rhi~los), v) reducing inccn~ives Sol- tl~osc that o\vn anti conscrvc rhino in the field, and G) limiting (he cnpncity or resource rnanagcrs to tnnilltail~ :~tlcquatc c o n s c ~ ~ ~ a t i o ~ ~ cs~icl~tlitr~~.es.

34 AFRICAN RHINOS une 1997

Eco~lornists firther argue th:~t long-term solulior~s should airn to t l i l l l ~k l ' (he c:ll?ncily 1 0 c:ll-n rcvc~l\~c f i . o ~ ~ ~ 1.l1i11os li.o~n illcgnl 11.adcrs to rigl~tful o ~ \ ~ ~ ~ c r s and milllngers.

l Io\\'c\.er tllcrc is colsc1-n in sorne ~ U : I I ~ ~ U I ~ S r ~ \ ) r ) r ~ l how tllc Icp:~lisi~~g of trade \i l i l l iill'ect dc~nnntl allcl prices for hon~ , ancl thcrcfo~e cvc111ual poilcl~ing pressure in the fieltl

If tlcrnand is stimulated :rrltl I1or11 ~ ~ . i c c s ~ i s c as :I result or re- opcni~~g trilrlc, Illis rrlay put inc~~ci~sctl ~~l.css\lrc O I I wild 1.11i1lo 13(>l>~ll :I 1 , lolls

Altcl-l~ati\-cly if :I Ieg;ll trade \\.ere to t1c:pl.c~~ p~.ices :lntl sophisticated 1r:ltlc. co11lrols co11ltl \,c ~~~foreecI ( l i ~ : ~ k i ~ ~ g i t vcly dillicult to I:~u~~tlcr IIOITI), this Illi1y I.~CIUCC the ~ I I C C I I ~ ~ \ ! L ' S o f c r i n ~ i ~ ~ ; ~ l traders to de:~l in 1in1.11, to the I>cnelit of rl~irlo.

. . I his propos:~l is sure 10 be hotly debated at COP 10, ar~d dzvelopnlel~ts will be rcpo~tccl on ill t11c 1le.1 cditii)~~ or AlYicn~~ Rl~i~los

AniSG :~ssists with I-eview of South Aft-icnn dowlllistitig p~-ol)os;~l

Thirteen AlItSC; n~e~nhel-s were arnollg thosc nsked to review end tech~~ically conunent on the lxo11osed ; ~ r r ~ c ~ ~ d ~ n e r ~ t lo the Al)l~cndix I1 downlisti~~g ofthc s o u r l ~ e l ~ ~ \vl~ilc rliillo ( c ~ ~ l ~ ~ l l o l / l e l ~ i l l t t l ~ i l t l ~ l l t l .~illl11111) by IUCN's trade ofice. ' h i s fonns part of the process by which IlJCN and 'I'RAFFIC aid govcr~unents by preparing otIjective and technic;ll analyses of all ~XO~IOS: I~S srlbn~ittetl for co~~sitlerntior~ nt the C1'1'13S Confercncc of llie Pilrties tu llrltl in I lararr, Zilnl>ub\\v il l .ltlnc'97,

1 AsRSG News

'I'llc Asia11 Itl~ir~o Sl~cci:~list G~.oul~'s Action plan t l ~ n t was finalised a! the last AsRSG ~necting has jlrst bee11 pi~blishctl.


:~ssessnlcnt of status for the 3 sl~ccies of Asia11 I hinos: the Illdinn, tllc Savnn nntl the Sun~a t ra~~ . The pl:a~ also presents n general strategy ntld specific actions Sol- Asinn I-hino conservntion including 36 specific ~woicct ~wo~~osa l s wit11 esti~l~:\ted cosls.

I:ol li~rthcr details col~tnct 1.h Tom I:oose at IT:lx +l 6 14 638 22 87 or write to 20 Pen Mar Street, Wnyncsboro, PA. 17268, USA

Contnct between the two rl~ir~o specialisl groups is being i~~crcasctl.

Ilr T ~ I I I I:oose (AslZSCi prognnllllc oflicer), 1)r Esrnond l31~:1cllcy M:lrtin i111c1 lticl~:~rcl rimslic (AJXSG Scienlilic Officer) : I I . ~ ~r~cr~lllcrs of holh groups I;~ciliti~li~~g i r~ tc rc l~ ;~~~gc ol'idcas alld kllo\vledgc ill AmSG and AsRSCi meetings.

conservntionists fi'oni Malaysia nntl Indonesia.

'I'hc tour \\lould csa~~iinc vcter.ina~y, nioniloring, anti- l~oacching and intclligencc gathering techniclucs in sorne key South Aliicnn rl~ino pal-ks.

'file AfllSC; aritl AsltSC; I'rogl.:r~rl~~~e 0Lliccl.s illso l o o k pal-( in the M:~lnysia~~ rhino I'VA hcld in Sandakhan, Snbnh, Mal:~ysia in Novernbcr 1995; ;~nd held n joint press corlferencc on 111c sl:~tus of the world's five rl~ino spccies in Kota K i ~ ~ i ~ l ~ a l u on Snbah, witl~ the nirn of mising nwnrcness of the ~lced for i~~creascd field rhino cotlscl-v:itiun in Mnlnysi:~.

illtliccltc tllc inll)o~-lnncc of erective concentrated law cnforccrncnt e1Yo1.t~ bnckcd 1117 \IY

i~~telligclrcc g :~t l~cr i~~g. 'I'I1c1.c arc sirniiaritics in successful rliirlo c o r ~ s e ~ ~ ~ : ~ t i o r ~ nl~l~~~oncllcs in lntlin :111cl Ncl~nl ~ u ~ t l \\<ell ~>~.olcctccl Ni-ican snr~ctuarics aid 11'Z's.

nl ore to Sirnilnrly the f ' I

111- T ~ I I I I;oose and IZich:~~.d E~nslic : I ~ C nlso tun-ently (lying lo set up :I licltl st11(1y ~ I I I I . 10 So i~ t l~ Aii.ici~ 1i)r Ilu-ce key Su~nnlrnn rhino

successli~lly prolcct and cr>nserve Sumntra~~ rhino ill Malaysin and l l~do~~csin has ~>~: : \ l l c l s to fnilu1.e~ i l l Arl.ic:~ wllcrc licld law cnfol-ccrnenl effb1-1 has b c e ~ ~

36 AFRICAN RHINOS

Cut rcr~tly the Asian rllino ~ l )~c i :~ l i s l ~ I ' I I I I I > Wcl) silc at 1110 IRI: llns a page gi\.il~g dctails of both rhino specialist groups (\vu.~i~.~.hir~os-irf.o~~g/sl>ccialists~.

In l l~c Itear liltr~i c, wllcl~ the AIl<S(i hi~s its OWII \\?cl> site, ~ l lc two I I~ino specialist groups p l n ~ ~ ~o 11111 link tlieil Web sites.

Al)orlt t111.c~ cluallr.~.s ol' 111(li:l11

r l~il~os arc consnvetl in India, \\,it11 all but t\ \ o of' [lie relni~inder (\\.llich \val~rlcrcd into I'akisti~~~) being conser~rd in Nepal. 'l'l~c 1101.t11-ci1st stf11c of Assill11 is I I I I I I I C

June 1997

India's Kazirilriga and Nepal's Roynl Cl~it\v:~l~ llnvc l l~e l:~rgcst popr~I:~tio~is.

AIKSG and AsKSG member Eslnond RI atlley Mallin believes tlle III :I~II ~ ~ : I S O I I for Il~e S~ICCCSS is 111i11 ~ O V C I I I I I I L ' I I ~ brldgets li)r 11ldio11 rhino :11-cas have beell over len ti111c.s higllel; on nilerage, tllan those in Inrlonesia, Millaysia :rnd Vietnam.

Both India alld Nepal have generally protected tlleir rhinos well, nnd ill sorlie cases r~lal~l>o\ver densities :~rc as high as one Inall pc1 square kilome~re. Just as in sollle of llle well prolccled Ali'ica~l rcscl-ves, esl~el~diture can be as high as $ l ,500/krn2/yenr.

Political instabilitjl, in:~dequate csl)el~tlitrll c o11 ir~tzlligc~~cc i r ~ tile pnst, cut backs in f ~ l ~ t l s Sol. n~nnngernc~il, poor Icadership i111d lo\\r ~ ~ ~ o r a l c or forest grli~~.ds, i11111

liu~i~ccl 01. or~tdatcd c~luiprncl~t have been a problem in some areas.

June 1997

gathering and the catching of t ~ \ ~ o big rllilio l ~ o n ~ trc~dcrs llns coincitlctl with :l11 al>l>rosi~~l~Ic hnlvirip of poachil~g in Assam ill

recent ycars.

For rnorc delails on Indian rhino conscrvnt~on, I entlcl s sl~oultl corlsult tllc AsllSCi Action I'lan nlid 1996 p q x r Ily Esnlond 13radlcy Mar-titi "'l'lre Itt~pot./atrce of l'c71.k Nlccigels, Iti~ellrgrt~ce Nenc.ot.ks ntld Corrrpe~er~r Afc~ttngettrer~~ /or. Siiccessfitl C o t ~ s e t ~ ~ c ~ ~ i o t ~ o/dre G ~ r n l e r Orle- Ilot71ed Rhit~ocetos" in I'achytlcl~t~ volui~~e nunll~cr 22. . . I Ile S:IIIIC ctlitio~~ also co~ltilins a p:iper by Allwnr~ddln Cl~oudhuly on "7'lr(~ Gtvrr~er U t ~ e Not.iied Nhirro Olitside I'rvtec~ed Arros irr , I , Y , Y ( Z I I I , l t~ifin"

I'achytlcr-rn is the journal of the IIJCN SSC's Ali.ic:~r~ Glcl)l1:111t Spccinl ist (-iroril>, AIRS(; : I I ~

AsRSG. For rurtl~er infol~liation ~~ lcnsc \\!rite to l'llc Etli~ol., I'acli!~tlcl~l~~ clo W WI; 17cpio11:1l Ofice, PO Box G2440, Nairobi, Kenya; f:is +251 2 332878 or e- mail nl'[email protected] .

'l'he reccrlt history of thc smallest "woolly" two horl~etl Sun~:llr:ln r11i11o is lile:~k.

Althougl~ llopulatior~ eslir~~:~tior~ is ditficult (as Surrintrari rhino li\e in clense 11 opical forcst and :Ire ver) sccretivc); it appcors that ~n~rnhers I~avc clcclirlctl I~clwccn 25%~ : I I I ~

50% ovcr thc Ins1 live ycius.

'l'lie latost fignrcs corl~l,ilrtl hy tile AsRSG estimate thcre to be only about 120 left in Malaysia and nhout 150 in Indonesia.

In Novclllher 1996 the AsllSG clrpanisctl arid licltl a M:~lnysinn rhino l~opulalior~ Vulncrnl~~lily Analysis (PVA) which recognisecl that \vitllout increased action and co~nmitlnent the rhino could bccolllc cstinct i r ~ Malnysin by 2020 or earlicr.

Altllollgll ll1c I'VA \\';Is collcclllctl \\fit11 Malnysian rhino conselv:~tion, I I I : I I I ~ of the cor~cl~~sions also alll>e:tr I I I npl)ly to Indonesia.

I t a p p c ~ s that ir~sulticicl~l rnanpon'er is bcil~g deploycd to patrol itrside Su~llatra~l 1.11ino aleas to illc~.c:~sc t l~c cll:~ilcc ol'tlclcctil~g and arresting potential or :~ctual

38 AFRICAN RHINOS

F ~ O I I I :l11 Africa11 perspective, there is 11 dcspcmte 11cctl to sct 1111 011" or I\ifo \vcll protcctctl I~~lcr~sive 1'1~olcclion Zoncs (Il'Z'sl ill e i ~ c l ~ counlly if this species is to hc s:~\~ed l'so~n eslinction in rllr \\ t i l l l .

SIIIII:I~I.:III rl1i11o c o ~ ~ s c r i f ; ~ t i o ~ ~ iblli)srs i l l Inclo~~csi:~ i ~ ~ l t l M:~I:~ysiil n1.c cur-rent1 being i~ssistecl by ;I

$2 rnillion Gloh:~l 1;11\~ironrne11r 1:ncility grant over- three yei~rs t l l i ~ t

the AslISti Ilcll>rtl 10 scrl.1l.z through the Unircd N :I 1' 1011s L)circlopmrnl l'rograrn~nz.

June 1997

\vl~icli is o sr~iall a~l~ount c o ~ ~ ~ l ~ : ~ ~ . e t l to :~ctllal needs.

l'utti~~g this figurc into contest (per country per yc:~r) i t ollly rc[xcsents 0.3'%1 of' the Soull~ Afr-ican g ~ \ ~ e ~ n ~ n c r ~ t ' s pant to Slnte conscnlalio~~ departments i l l

1996f97. Tile figure is also S I I I ~ I I I C O I I I ~ I : I I ~ ~ to tile CIII re111 : I I I I I I I ; I I t un~o\~c~. in Soi~tll Ali-icn Sroln live s:lles of black : I I I ~ \vhite ~ l ~ i ~ l o , nnti t~ophy fees and daily rates for t l~c li111itetI number of white I hinos Ilrl~lted. This gc~lesnted a tun]-over oSnpp~.oxin~atcly $2.75 ~nillior~ in 1996 \vhich is over 8 tinlcs the level of the Cil3: g-ant per country pc" ye;"'

I-'u~-ll~e~niore, i t :lppenrs that [?El; \\.ill not be renewing this grant C;ivcn tllal Illore sul)port li)r St1111ntran rllillo corlse~vatior~ cllb-[S in the lieltl is u ~ p c ~ ~ t l y ~lcctlcd, i t is Ilopcd that the Glil: \\ ' i l l reconsicler irs decision.

. . I 11e majorit). of rer~~iiining I.esser Or\c-H01ned 01- Ji\\'a~l rhino (60) occur in the lljung Kulon park in I~~clo~~esia, \\lit11 11 Ii11111er l5 rcn~air~ing in Vict~r:~n~ (Sourcc - IlJC'N ASKS(;).

39 AFRICAN RHINOS Jurie 1997

In IJjr111g Kulon, ellbr ts are ongoi~~g to limit illcg;~l access to rhc I K I I ~ froni both Iarul and sca.

Population estimates indicate Ulc population appears to bc stable, pc( t l~c age stnlctute (bascd on spoo~.) s~~ggests t l ~ n t lllc ~ ~ o p u l n t i o ~ ~ shoriltl bc incrcasi~lg. Cai rying c :~~~:~ci ty lirnitatiorls n~ c therefore urllikcly to be t l~e cause of thc appa~cntly stable population in Uiunr: Kulon.

it is therefore likely (hat either actual poaching Icvcls ma! be I~iglicr 1l1a11 rccorclctl Icvcls (cilr~cclli~~g or11 the ~ I I I I I L I ; I I llatul ill incscilse), or the st:rl~ility is rnorc apparent than rcal, and a function of tlillicr~ltics in population csli111:1tio11.

I1csl)ilc 11lr1c11 strcccss in Ujung Kulon, thcrc is tl~ercfor-e no room for co~nplacency, as any increase i l l l)o:lt:hir~g ivill ~)~X)II~II)I)' cailsc this kcy pol)ul:~tio~~ Io tlcclinc.

The AfRSG thanks..

'I'he AfllSG ~voultl like to acknowledge the valuahlc supporl 01%. , .

'fllc Wosld Witlc I:~IIIJ Tor Nnturc (Africa & Madagascar), the Onitctl Kingdo111 13cpnrtment of tllc Ilnvironmcnt il11(1 Cornrnissio~~ (IS lllc I i u ~ ~ o p c : ~ ~ ~ l Jnion for silp\)(>rti~ig the i11itiaI tl~rcc ye:~r contract for thc AIlL5C;'s Scientific of ice^..

'I'he World Widc F L I I I ~ For Nature (South Afi-ica) for contributing to\vards the NTISCi Cllairman's running costs.

(IS I:isl~ C% Wiltllilir Scrvicc n~ld tlrc United Nations l.:nviron~ne~~t Progrmn~lx for their sponsorship of thc 1996 N R S G ~ ~ ~ e c l i n p

'I'hc Nnlal Parks I3o:rrd - for lleing tl~c I~ost orpariisrllio~~ 10 Ihc AfllSCi ilnd provitling an oficc, an e-~nnil link, as \\*cl1 as accour~tirlg a11d Ii11:111cinl I I I : I I I : I~:~II I~II~ si~pporl 1i.o111 their- l;i~~rlr~ci:~l Scl.\~iccs Division. L,yn Nan-ison is also Ihanked for valuable ad1ninislrn1it.e support.

'I'l~e llrlitcd Nat io~~s I)cvelopnic~~l I'rogrnmn~c and the I lo\\*ard Gill~r~nr~ Foundation for generously

40 AFRICAN RHINOS

sl)olisorlng the Nor t l~e~r~ White lU11r1o M'orkshop held il l White 0:1k II I ()ctol)cr 19'15.

IUCN I Ic:~dclt~nl.tcl.s Ibr sul~lx)l.t and administrative ossistnnce.

'l'lle Scicr~tilic Olliccr \voultl like I O IIii111k ~ I I C I;II(I~III~,CI.CCI Ulilcllife 'l'lusl ancl Co~np:~cl l i r the lo:~n of $1 ~>orl~ll~lc c ~ ~ l l l ~ > ~ l ~ c r ,

Subscription Details

'l'llosc want111g to I cceivc or aclve~ t ~ s e 111 Afi ~cnn R ~ I I I I ~ S 01 o n Il~c AIl(S(;'s lilt111 c We\) Slte III e askccl to ~)le:~sc \\,I lte to or fns the NRSC; Oflice

The success of the newsletter will depend on contributior~s received fr(3111 the Ali-icz~l~ range Stntcs n ~ l t l

olher rnnnngc~-s rind o~.gr~~~is:~tio~ls involved i l l 1.lli11o co~lsc~vation.

Therefc)re please provide tllc editor wit11 brief news iterns or short nrliclcs. I)c;~dli~~es f o ~ , subrnissio~~s for the 11ext edi t io~~ will hc tllc 3 1 sl Uctohcr 1997.

Thc A1RSG will he sponsol.i~~g the publication of this edition of the nci\lslettcr.

I-Iowcvcr wc nrc lookil~g fix spo~~sorship to cover p1-inti11g nnd distl.iI)r~tiol~ costs ol 'f~~lurc editions. Anyone, or nny o r ~ : ~ ~ ~ i s a t i o n irtterested in spol~sor i~~g the publicniion of Ali~iciul I<l~illos or i~tlvcrtisir~p (Ills deductible) in Africnri IUlir~os

Auyonc or any orpn~~isatious who would like to suppol-t the \vork of the AtRSCi, nl e rcqrlcstetl to plci~sr corltact lllc CI1:1inna11, 111 M:II till Brooks, NTiSCi, I'O Box 662, Picte~~n:~~.i tzbu~ g 3200, K\\li~Zulu-Natal, South Ni ica 1-as (+27) 33 1 173278

I Vol.1 (1997) No. 1 i

April 1997

I ! 1 African rhino numbers near I

AFRlCAN RHINOS , l

1 10,000 in the wild - whites up 1

Newsletter of the IUCN SSC ASrican Rhino Specialist Group -- .- - p - - - pp

CI'I'I:S issues, ~lews lio~li I l ~ i ~ l o consel vatlo~l bod~es, nu update on The

AfRSG

and blacks stable

I CONTENTS

'I'his first cdi t io~~ oftlie Ile\ir Afiic:ln IUlil~o Spccinlisl (liro~11) (NRSG) Newsletlzr sepol.ts on the consc~vntion of Ali-ica's rhirlos wit11 pnrticula~ emphasis on rlews from the rnllge Sti~tes

Otl~es sul,jects tliscusscd ill Illis edition irlcludz :I 111-iefcspln~~ntiot~ of the role ancl activities ol'llle NRSG I I ~ I - ~ I I K the Inst I[JCN trienniu~n,

the st:tt\ls ofthc I1e\iv A111SC; N~.~c:III I<h i~~o Action I'lr~n, ancl Asinn l i l~ i~lo Specialist [iroul) (AsRSG) ncivs.

This news lettel- supplcrr~er~ts l ' ~ ~ ~ : I ~ y ~ f ~ t ~ t t ~ 1v11icIi is tile joi11t ~ ~ I I I . I I : I ~

of IIJCN SSC's Afi-~~:III Elcplln~~t Spcci:~lisl [;ro111) :IIICI A ~ ~ ~ C I I I I ~ I I I ( \

ASI ; I I~ IUlil~o Sl,ucinlist ti~.oups.

AsRSG News ........................... 34 The AfRSG Tliar~ks.. .............. 39

............... Subscription Details 40

................................. Tlie AfRSG I .............. Range State Update 8 ............... Organisafior~ News 21

Other African Rhino News 25 ... ........................... ClTES News 28

llI1i11o Spi:cii~Iist Gro111i (AIltSCi) is one ol'n ~lr~rnl~cl of g~.o~llis ~ v l ~ i c l ~ 111:1ke 1111 1111' Species Survi\lal Conu~~issio~l (SSC) of the IUCN (World Consel.vnlio~~ IJnioll).

I AFRICAN RHINOS 1 - Rhino Resource Center · 40 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997 sponsoring tl~e Nortllern...

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Transcript of I AFRICAN RHINOS 1 - Rhino Resource Center · 40 AFRICAN RHINOS June 1997 sponsoring tl~e Nortllern...