Thanks to a phenomenal collaborative effort, a total of 17 black rhinos from South Africa have recently been relocated to Malawi.
Released at the Liwonde National Park, Peter Fearnhead the CEO of Africa Parks; explained that this is one of the largest international black rhino translocations to date.
The relocation was done in conjunction with WWF South Africa, Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife, as well as Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
The translocation was made possible through the efforts and support of Stichting Nature Africae, Vale Logistics and Save the Rhino International. Furthermore, WWF Belgium, the Wyss Foundation and the People’s Postcode Lottery also injected substantial efforts to assist in the initiative.
Fearnhead explained that the shared vision between the organisations is to bolster Malawi’s current rhino population, as well as to support efforts to conserve rhinos, a critically endangered species.
The rhinos were quarantined in KwaZulu-Natal for six weeks before being flown to Lilongwe and then finally taken to Liwonde National Park; where they were all released.
Additionally, Fearnhead stated that measures had been implemented to ensure the safety of the rhinos and to keep track of the herd. This includes seeing each rhino fitted with a GPS sensor, aerial surveillance, daily ranger patrols and the integration of the most advanced technology to enable their live time tracking.
With more than 6 000 black rhinos remaining in the wild, translocations to well-protected areas are essential in providing for their long term survival. Therefore, through endeavours such as this, conservationists are hoping to secure and further develop rhino populations.
Furthermore, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries issued a report on rhino poaching in the first six months of 2019. The report describes that during the period of January to June 2019, the number of rhinos poached countrywide stood at 318.
This is slightly lower than the 386 recorded during the same period in 2018.
With the above in mind, do you feel poachers must face harsher penalties? Share your thoughts and views with us in the comment section below.
Also read: Dud you know, nature’s megafauna are dying because of human meat consumption?
