Zimbabwe
Rhinos are among the most threatened mammals on the planet – sadly, a number of populations have all but disappeared. Black rhino (Diceros bicornis) populations were particularly hard-hit over the past few decades, with poaching in the 1980s taking a terrible toll. Starting with East Africa, the rhino crisis intensified to the point where Zambia’s rhinos (perhaps 3,000) were completely wiped out by poachers. At around the same time, the species also was extirpated in Botswana. Another 1,600 black rhinos were killed in
Zimbabwe before conservation actions stabilized and eventually reversed the situation.
ZIMBABWE
By the late 1980s and early 1990s, cross-border poaching had reduced Zimbabwe’s once-large black rhino numbers from about 2,000 to 500 individuals, with populations declining to a low of 370 individuals in 1993. At that point, a national rhino conservation strategy led to the development of intensive protection zones within national parks. A rhino custodianship scheme also was developed whereby private landowners undertook rhino care on behalf of the State, rescuing individual animals from heavy poaching in the Zambezi Valley. Despite pressures, intensive and well-coordinated efforts have allowed the Zimbabwe black rhino population to recover to approximately 500 animals. This population now is the third largest in Africa. About 25% of these black rhinos live within national park intensive protection zones and almost 75% live on commercial farms and conservancies. Unfortunately, many national parks are not staffed or equipped at a level commensurate with well-armed poachers coming in from Zambia, Angola, and Botswana.
In recent years, the Zimbabwe government has implemented major land reforms, giving previously privately held land to local people, subsistence farmers, and other beneficiaries identified by the Zimbabwean Government for resettlement. As a result, habitat is being cleared in private conservancies for patchy settlements and subsistence farming, which in turn creates direct human-rhino conflict. In some areas, perimeter game fencing around conservancies has been torn down and used to manufacture thousands of wire snares. Political difficulties are conducive to worsening economic conditions and have not addressed the root causes of poaching, in particular, poverty and lack of enforcement of existing laws concerning protection of endangered species. Rhinos are increasingly the incidental victims of snares set for bushmeat by communities short on food.
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| Black rhino. Photo courtesy WWF-SARPO |
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| Black rhino injured by wire snares set for bushmeat. Wire snares create severe wounds which can be treated to reduce injury. |
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| Jabari, Akura and calf. |
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| Crating a black rhino to move to safety. (WWF-SARPO) |
IRF’s Work in Zimbabwe
- Protecting rhinos in private conservancies and national park Intensive Protection Zones (IPZs) by rescuing rhinos at high risk, performing triage and other veterinary care, and funding for anti-poaching action.
- Reestablishing viable populations of black rhinos in protected wild habitat in places, especially Botswana, where the species had previously been extirpated but which now seems secure for reintroduction. One of the best strategies against poaching and other threats is to reduce risk by distributing the rhino over as many habitats and countries as possible.
- Translocating rhinos from zoo facilities to a free-range sanctuary and propagation facility being developed in a Transfrontier Conservation Region (Shashe-Limpopo ) to produce additional rhinos for the range expansion/reintroduction programs. A male black rhino (Tim) from White Oak Conservation Center along with a female (Akura) from the Frankfurt Zoo have already been successfully introduced to the wild near Marakele National Park in South Africa where they have produced a number of calves. More captive-to-wild introductions are in the works.
There are currently approximately 500 black rhinos in Zimbabwe where the poaching threat is probably greater than anywhere else in southern Africa. About three-quarters of the Zimbabwe rhino population live on private conservancies and the rest mostly in IPZs within national parks. Their survival is severely threatened by land ownership changes and loss of park staff capacity to protect wildlife.
The private sector’s strong role in conservation arose in the late 1980s when a rhino custodianship program allocated state-owned wildlife to private ranchers for breeding endangered species. The rhinos, moved from areas under intensive poaching pressure, remain owned by the State and the custodians have no trading rights.
Since 2000, with recent political change, many private conservancies have been overrun by human settlements clearing land for subsistence farming. Perimeter game fencing around the conservancies has been dismantled and the wire used to produce thousands of wildlife snares to trap bushmeat. Rhinos are the incidental victims. Also, deliberate killing by commercial poaching for rhino horn is increasing rapidly.
In response, the international conservation community led by the International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and supported by partners such as Save the Rhino International and the SAVE Foundation, has funded rhino rescue operations – a technique perfected over the past decade. Rhinos are fitted with telemetry devices for tracking, and when found injured by snares or poachers, treated and translocated to safer areas as necessary. The veterinarians, pilots, and trackers involved in these operations act as the “Red Cross” for the rhinos, performing triage in the field then airlifting or trucking them to safety as necessary for recovery and security.
A PROMISING FUTURE: TRANSFRONTIER CONSERVATION AREAS
In the face of the fluctuating political milieus across Africa, a promising strategy has been the development of conservation areas that straddle the borders of two or more sovereign states. These Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) provide benefit to all species living within, and particularly those that require large, contiguous landscapes to survive. For black rhinos, TFCAs provide fresh opportunities to reestablish new, large, viable, and secure populations. This kind of broad-based, wide-ranging conservation is imperative, particularly where political regimes in neighboring countries have a high potential for instability, yet at the same time are unlikely to be unstable in synchrony. For example, when political upheaval led to the loss of rhino populations in Botswana and Zambia in the 1980s and 1990s, Zimbabwe managed to preserve its black rhinos. Now, however, Zimbabwe’s current political situation is not optimal for effective rhino protection, and, paradoxically, a number of sites in Botswana and Zambia have once again become secure.
Effective long-term conservation maximizes options for the future. For now, the most conservative, and potentially effective strategy, is to reduce the risk of loss by distributing rhinos over as many habitats and countries as possible, thus avoiding putting “all the eggs in one basket.” This concept holds particular promise for black rhinos of Zimbabwe provenance, especially the potential to translocate rescued Zimbabwean rhinos so that they can be acclimated and released into TFCAs where no (or low) black rhino populations currently exist that would compete for resources. There also is a possibility, longer-term, of repatriating genetically-valuable black rhinos from North American and Australian zoos, which are descended from rhinos originating in Zimbabwe.
The Shashe-Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area
The governments of Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa recently have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to create the Shashe-Limpopo TFCA. While boundaries have not yet been fully defined (especially on the Zimbabwean side, where the land reform process has created some uncertainties regarding apportioning land for wildlife ventures as opposed to settlement, livestock production, and other human inhabitation), the MOU provides political momentum to plan joint restocking of the area with wildlife species, including rhinos. The TFCA is centered on the junction of the Shashe and Limpopo rivers.
In terms of secure range for rhinos, core areas include the Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve and the Mapungubwe National Park (previously known, as indicated in map, as Vhembe-Dongola National Park). The 220 km² National Park was developed through contractual arrangements with previous landowners to incorporate properties, including land owned by De Beers. We envision that fences will be removed to combine this area with Venetia-Limpopo Nature Reserve (~340 km²) with wildlife ranches on either side. The Botswana portion is made up of the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, encompassing 36 ranches, for a total of 700 km². On the Zimbabwean side, the Tuli Safari Area is 400 km² and neighboring game ranches (which were privately owned until recently) comprise about 500 km².
IRF needs your help to continue operations in Zimbabwe. Visit our donate page to learn more about how you can help us protect black rhinos and other endangered species.
If you would like more information about this or other IRF programs, please email
info@rhinos-irf.org.
