A BLINDFOLDED WHITE RHINO WAITS IN AN ENCLOSURE FOR ITS RELEASE BACK INTO THE WILD
Conservationists are pinning their hopes on the Okavango Delta for the survival of Africa’s rhinos. Photojournalist Neil Aldridge and Rhino Conservation Botswana’s communications manager Sophie Stafford reveal why.
“WE COULD LOSE THE RHINO IN THE WILD WITHIN 10 YEARS. BUT THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN, NOT ON MY WATCH.”
The fight for the rhino is one we can still win,” says Map Ives, watching two white rhinos munching contentedly on the lush green grass close to his vehicle. Map is the director and visionary conservationist behind Rhino Conservation Botswana (RCB), a home-grown charity based in Maun in northern Botswana, and he’s determined that poachers won’t succeed in driving Africa’s rhinos to extinction. “If poaching continues at the current rate, we could lose the rhino in the wild within 10 years. But that’s not going to happen – not on my watch,” he says fiercely.
Poaching for horn eradicated Botswana’s wild rhinos by 1992, but since 2002 an ambitious reintroduction programme has been rebuilding the country’s lost rhino populations in the Okavango Delta. One of the world’s most pristine ecosystems, the delta has everything a discerning rhino could want – water, food, shade, mud – and some of Africa’s most robust wildlife protection measures.
Here, the governments of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe are working with RCB and tourism operators to build and protect populations of white and black rhinos in what has been referred to as an ‘ark’ in the Biblical sense of saving sufficient breeding animals to avoid a wipeout. Rhinos selected for their breeding potential and also the diversity of their genetic stock are moved from areas experiencing intense poaching pressure to the relative safety of Botswana. It’s not cheap – to purchase and translocate a rhino costs around $75,000 – but as Map says, “What price would you put on a rhino’s life?”
In Botswana, protection of natural resources is a priority of the military, and so rhinos often have the honour of being flown to their new life in a magnificent Hercules aircraft. On arrival, they are confined to reinforced enclosures called bomas while they recover and acclimatise. During this time, the rhinos are given round-the-clock care and protection until the door is quietly opened, allowing them to step out into their new home.
In Botswana, rhinos are free to roam wherever they wish, but RCB’s monitoring officers are never far away. On the ground, in the sky, the team employs a mix of traditional bush tracking skills and state-of-theart tracking devices to keep watch over their precious charges. If a rhino wanders out of the core protection zone and into somewhere considered higher risk, such as areas close to international borders, then the team is scrambled to bring the wanderer back to safety.
So far, RCB’s efforts have been paying dividends. Though the actual number of rhinos in Botswana is kept secret, the population here is increasing steadily. At a time when numbers elsewhere are in decline, every precious calf is a cause for celebration. Last year, when it seemed all other strategies had failed, South Africa resorted to championing consumptive use of rhinos and the legalisation of the trade in horn. Today, Botswana could be the rhinos’ last hope. Map isn’t taking any chances. “RCB is introducing rhino protection dogs to our team to crack down on wildlife crime,” he says. “We’re also launching a community programme to help local people develop a sense of pride in Botswana’s rich wildlife.” Long-term, it’s hoped that local communities will become a buffer around the rhinos – and a critical first line of defence.
“It’s not often you get the chance to rewrite a species’ future,” says Map. “But this is our opportunity to do just that. With everyone’s support, we can save the rhino from extinction.”