Stressed rhino safely relocated
MONDAY DECEMBER 14
2015 IN AN emergency drought intervention, six rhino – four female adults and two calves – have been successfully dehorned and relocated from the uMkhuze section of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park to its western shores.
The relocations followed an inspection of uMkhuze by iSimangaliso and Ezemvelo park managers and rangers, as part of drought monitoring across iSimangaliso. This was followed by an aerial survey to verify the condition of individual rhino.
Animals were rated on a scale of one to five, with five being optimum and one very poor. During the survey, about 15 adult rhino found to be in the lower end of class three were identified for translocation.
Andrew Zaloumis, chief executive of iSimangaliso Wetland Park, said: “While the current white rhino population in the uMkhuze section of iSimangaliso is below its ecological carrying capacity, and artificially supplied water points are flowing well, the severity of the current drought, coupled with extremely high ambient temperatures, has resulted in food shortages and severe nutritional stress for some of the animals.”
The removal of rhino was not without risk. The hot conditions, as well as the weakened state of the rhino, required the capture team to work from first light and as fast as possible to get the animals sedated, dehorned, crated and transported to their new destination two hours’ drive away.