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By Pat Graham
September 9, 2009
It was 1994. A black rhino broke through the fence on the north side of Etosha National Park. When found, his horns had been sawed off. He was left to die. This was the last documented incident of black rhino poaching in Namibia.
Twenty years earlier, poaching was rampant. The government was so concerned it captured and relocated black rhino into Etosha National Park.
A record drought and the war for independence took an additional toll on black rhino and all wildlife in the region. The rhino population in the northern half of the Kunene region west of Etosha was wiped out. Only 60 black rhino remained in the southern half.
SRT to the Rescue
It’s a global problem. Rhinos were, and still are, killed for their horns, much sought after in Asian markets to be ground into powder to cure everything from arthritis to depression.
In 1982, Blythe Louitt founded Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) in Namibia. She did something few would have considered. She went out and hired former rhino poachers to work as game guards. After all, who better knew the tricks of the trade?
She provided them with an alternative and it worked. SRT, combined with the community game guards funded by Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC), changed the course of the rhinos’ future.
By 1998, the government began conveying authority to manage wildlife to people who formed conservancies on communal land.
Making It Local
While black rhino remains a protected species and managed through an agreement with SRT, local people now had an extra incentive to help bring the rhino back and benefit from the growing wildlife centered-tourism in the area.
As the populations of rhinos grew so did the need for more trackers.
I spent some time with John, who’s been a tracker for nine years. He recalls how when he inquired about a job, Blythe had him write an essay about why nature and wildlife matter. His next test was to carry all the cameras and gear a tracker needs, along with two liters of water, for a 20-kilometer hike through these beautiful yet arid mountains.
In 2005 Blythe passed away. Her husband, Rudi, former director of Skeleton Coast National Parks, picked up the torch. He’s an angular man with a passion that is as strong for his staff as it is for rhinos. Under an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, he and the trackers recently completed a census and can account for all 183 rhinos living today in the Kunene – every single one.
This is three times the population’s low point. The work of SRT, combined with the game guards from the communal conservancies, created a home for the largest population of desert-adapted black rhino and the second-largest population of rhino in Namibia after Etosha National Park. And now, black rhinos that were once taken to Etosha Park for their safety are being relocated to conservancies.
Where else would officials relocate threatened black rhino out of a national park and onto communal lands?
Border Threats
Unfortunately, threat looms at the borders. Last month, World Wildlife Fund issued a worldwide alert about the resurgence in rhino poaching. Sadly, it is on the upswing in the countries surrounding Namibia.
The Conservancy supports SRT for two reasons. First, SRT is an important on-the-ground conservation partner that can benefit from the knowledge and experience we have in conservation planning, fundraising and coalition building. We are working to help SRT grow into a sustainable organization.
Second, the black rhino is an umbrella species. If you take care of the habitat and corridors black rhino need, and reduce the human conflicts, you will help a host of species in this remarkable desert grassland.
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