Out of Africa? Texans offer sanctuary to endangered rhinos

SAN ANTONIO: In the Texas grassland, home to white-tailed deer and rattlesnakes, outdoorsman Charly Seale sees a vast sanctuary of open spaces that could be used to protect the wild African rhino from its biggest enemy – poachers in search of the animals’ valuable horns.

Seale is part of an ambitious project organised by animal welfare groups in the US and African countries to bring hundreds of orphaned baby southern white rhinos to the south Texas grasslands, whose climate and geography are similar to their native South African veld.

That is if governments will let them and the Texans can afford a transportation bill that could run tens of millions of dollars, all paid for by private donations.

“This is not for the faint of heart or for the faint of chequebook,” said Seale, head of the Texas-based Exotic Wildlife Association’s Second Ark Foundation, pointing out no public money will be sought for the effort.

Rhino poaching hit a record in South Africa last year, home to almost all the rhinos in Africa, with 1 215 killed in 2014, according to South Africa’s Environment Ministry.

International crime syndicates are after rhino horns, which are used in traditional Asian medicine and sell at prices higher than gold to the newly affluent in places such as Vietnam.

In January, South Africa said it had moved about 100 rhinos to neighbouring states to combat poaching. In 2015, another 200 rhinos will be moved to what Environment Minister Edna Molewa said are “strongholds” where the animals will be safer from poaching.

But what about Texas? If the plan goes forward – and there are many issues yet to be resolved – it would likely be the largest attempt outside of Africa to move rhinos out of harm’s way.

The South African Environment Ministry says it has yet to receive a formal request for export, but added that strict criteria under international endangered species agreements would have to be met.

South Africa is home to about 20 000 rhinos, but under the Texas plan, called Project 1000, far fewer rhinos would likely be approved for export to the US state. Africa has two different species of rhinos: white, which number about 20 000, and black, whose population is about 5 000, according to the website savetherhino.org

The Second Ark Foundation, which has worked to preserve the African addax and the scimitar-horned Oryx, is working with South African wildlife organisations to handle the logistics. The challenges are formidable. Most of the rhinos would be under three years old and younger animals would have to be fed milk by bottle.

Rhinos are not the best of travellers. Their health could be put in jeopardy by a long trip and airplanes can move only a handful at a time. But if it goes according to plan, the rhinos would be housed on ranches in south or south-west Texas that can run in size to 40 000 hectares and more.

The rhinos would be well guarded, with their DNA sequences stored in a database and micro chips placed in their horns while they are kept under surveillance at the ranches, many equipped with helicopters to keep an eye on the animals.

If things go well in Texas and South Africa can put a lid on poaching, the Lone Starraised rhinos could eventually be returned to Africa. – Reuters