The goal is for the translocated rhinos to form a seed population in Botswana, eventually expanding in number and genetic diversity. "[They will be] protected by the latest technology and a specialised anti-poaching unit," says Joubert.
Record number of rhinos to be airlifted
In Africa, southern white rhinos, once thought to be extinct, now thrive in protected sanctuaries and are classified as near threatened. But the western black rhino and northern white rhinos have recently become extinct in the wild. The only two remaining northern white rhino are kept under 24-hour guard in Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Black rhinos have doubled in number over the past two decades from their low point of fewer than 2,500 individuals, but total numbers are still a fraction of the estimated 100,000 that existed in the early part of the 20th century.
As the growing middle class in both China and Vietnam become more affluent and can afford the high cost of rhino horn, they are driving up the demand on the international black market. Rhino poaching levels hit record highs in 2015, with poachers slaughtering at least 1,300 rhinos in Africa. Six hundred and ninety one rhinos were poached in South Africa in 2017. That number slightly decreased in 2018 with 508 rhinos poached.
WWF has a long history of supporting rhino translocations with the aim to establish new populations within their former range and move animals from risk areas to safe havens. In South Africa, WWF, in partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and Eastern Cape Parks and Tourismand partners started the Black Rhino Ranger Expansion Project (BBREP) in 2003. Since its start, the project has helped successfully establish 12 new black rhino populations in safer, more spacious locations within their former range and relocated a total of 201 critically endangered black rhinos. During translocations, some rhinos are airlifted by helicopter. They are first sedated and then carefully airlifted to awaiting vehicles which take them to their new locations. Translocations reduce pressure on existing wildlife reserves and provide new territory within their former range where rhinos have a greater opportunity to increase in number. Creating more dispersed and better protected populations also helps keep rhinos safe from poachers.
South Africa is the most dangerous place in the world to be a rhinoceros. Targeted for their horns, which fetch astronomical values on the black market, rhinos are slayed at the rate of three per day by a ruthless network of poachers. And current protections seem to have provided little deterence because demand and supply continue to rise. So after a year of record killings, an ambitious rescue effort is underway to airlift the great beasts to safety.
It is estimated that there are fewer than 26,000 rhinos left in Africa, and most of them are clustered at the bottom of the continent, in South Africa. The bad news: Record numbers of rhinos have been killed there in the past few years (a 270 percent year-over-year increase was reported from 2014 to 2015).
Mlelani, Tambo and another female white rhino were airlifted from Kruger National Park in South Africa in 2001 through the efforts of the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of rhinos. According to the IRF, just over 14,530 white rhinos remain in the wild, and fewer than 170 live in zoological facilities across North America.
We all gasped in amazement at photos of a black rhinoceros being airlifted upside down to an area of South Africa where it stood a better chance at reproducing. Inconceivably, a new report suggests there's no other rhinos for it to reproduce with.
Kisiri, Tambo and another female white rhino were airlifted fromKruger National Park in South Africa in 2001 through the efforts of theInternational Rhino Foundation (IRF), a non-profit organization dedicated tothe protection of rhinos.
South Africa and Chad on Sunday signed an agreement that will see the re-introduction next year of critically endangered black rhino to the central African country, decades after it was last seen there. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1449240174198-2'); ); Environment ministers from the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding "which will allow for the translocation of six black rhino from South Africa to Chad," said a government statement.The last time a rhino was spotted in Chad was in 1972, according to official documents Chad submitted to South Africa.The animals should be airlifted to Chad's Zakouma National Park "sometime next year. We are looking at around March, April or May" environmental affairs ministry spokesman Albi Modise told AFP.Black rhino are officially listed as critically endangered but are still native to the mainly eastern and southern African countries of Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.They have been re-introduced to several other southern African countries.There are around 5,000 black rhino left in Africa with South Africa's population sitting at 1,893, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.South Africa is also home to around 20,000 white rhinos, about 80 percent of the worldwide population, but the country has suffered record poaching in recent years.Poachers have killed more than 7,100 rhinos in Africa over the past decade for their horns.The horn is highly prized in China and Vietnam where it is coveted as a traditional medicine and aphrodisiac.South Africa's Environment Minister Edna Molewa and Chad counterpart Ahmat Mbodou Mahamat signed Sunday's deal in Pretoria. 2017 AFP
The mark stands as a record number of deaths for the animals for the same January through April period of time since data has been recorded. Concerned parties are watching the numbers closely, expecting the state record for manatee deaths of 830 set in 2013 to be eclipsed later this year.
In 2015 the program airlifted 100 of these more than two ton animals. With more rhinos killed by poachers in 2014 than were born in the wild, rhino rescue remains critical. Highly endangered, only about 4,000 to 5,000 black rhino and 20,000 white rhino remain in Africa.
None of this is doing anything to help the lumbering rhino, whose numbers continue to plummet as the demand for horn soars. There are thought to be about 20,000 white rhinos left in Africa and 4,000 black rhinos. If poaching rates continue to climb, some experts worry that in 10 years, all wild black rhinos will be gone, which would mean it wouldn't be long until the white rhino meets the same fate.
The South African government says a record 668 rhinos were killed in the\n country in 2012, an increase of nearly 50 percent over the previous \nyear...","publisher":"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo News","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":" _news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png","width":310,"height":50,"url":" ","author":"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo News","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":" _news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png","width":310,"height":50,"url":" ","creator":"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo News","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":" _news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png","width":310,"height":50,"url":" ","provider":"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo News","logo":"@type":"ImageObject","url":" _news_en-US_h_p_news_2.png","width":310,"height":50,"url":" ","image":"@type":"ImageObject","url":" _default_logo-1200x1200.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"thumbnailUrl":" _default_logo-1200x1200.png"} Rhinos--DRAFT "videoDockingCfg":"enableOnMuted":true,"enableOnScrollDown":true,"enableOnScrollUp":false,"fadeInAnimation":true,"height":225,"positionBottom":0,"positionLeft":-1,"positionRight":20,"positionTop":-1,"showInfoCard":false,"width":400,"threshold":10 "longForm":"weekday":"short","day":"numeric","hour":"numeric","hourCycle":"h12","minute":"2-digit","month":"long","year":"numeric","timeZoneName":"short","shortForm":"day":"numeric","month":"long","year":"numeric" "twitter":"timeout":5000Read full articleJune 20, 2012, 2:35 AM1 / 10The New Arrivals At Port Lympne Wild Animal ParkHYTHE, ENGLAND - JUNE 21: A 6 month old Black Rhino calf stands with its mother in its enclosure at Lympne Wild Animal Park on June 21, 2011 in Hythe, England. Port Lympne has welcomed a host of new arrivals this year with wildebeest, colobus monkeys, gorillas and rhinos all adding to the current stock. Port Lympne and Howletts Wild Animal parks were set up by the late John Aspinall to protect and breed rare and endangered species and, where possible, return them to safe areas in the wild. The Aspinall Foundation which runs the parks also manages two gorilla rescue and rehabilitation projects in the central African countries of Gabon and Congo where they have successfully reintroduced over 50 gorillas to the wild. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)Getty ImagesThe South African government says a record 668 rhinos were killed in the country in 2012, an increase of nearly 50 percent over the previous year. Demand is growing in Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia where rhino horn is believed to have medical benefits despite evidence to the contrary. The horn is made of keratin, a protein also found in human fingernails.
The year 2022 ended with the good news that not a single one-horned rhino in Assam was poached. Celebrating the news, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to convey that the poaching numbers were recorded to be the lowest in 22 years, with zero cases reported in 2022. The Twitter post by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader read that "The gentle giant is now much safer in Assam."
The Indian rhinoceros that inhabit the Brahmaputra valley, and some areas of North Bengal and southern Nepal, is the largest of the rhino species. Kaziranga National Park, located in Assam, is home to around 2,613 Rhinos, and the numbers have been increasing as per the latest census data published by the national park authority. The National Park, in the floodplains of the Brahmaputra river, is said to be the biggest habitat globally for the one-horned rhinos. 2ff7e9595c
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