Did you know? Namibia has the healthiest free-roaming Black Rhino population on earth… but it wasn’t always like this. With its prehistoric origins dating back millions of years, the Rhinoceros, and specifically, the black Rhino, was once on the brink of total extinction!
In the late 1970’s aggressive poaching took the black Rhino numbers to an ultimate low and by the early 1980s the population had plummeted from 65,000 to a shocking 60! The animals were hunted to satisfy the demand for horn, which was used to fashion handles for ceremonial Yemeni daggers and as an ingredient to reduce fever in oriental medicine.
The government, local communities, NGOs, the private sector and international agencies stepped in and made a huge investment in rebuilding Namibian Rhino populations. During this time Namibia established itself as one of only two countries in Africa with notable success in black Rhino conservation. Before Namibia gained its independence, in 1982, the Namibia Wildlife Trust was established. Subsequently, the late Blythe Loutit and Ina Britz founded the Save the Rhino Trust Fund, whose goal was to track and study Rhino populations in the Kunene and Erongo regions. Namibia lost more than 95% of its rhino population in the 1980s. Less than ten were discovered in Koakoland, and an estimated 40 were discovered in Damaraland.
The Save the Rhino project started from humble beginnings and very little funding. Their approach was to hire respected individuals from local communities to perform regular anti-poaching patrols – mostly by foot. This was seen as an imperative tool to providing employment for the local communities and instilling a sense of ownership of the Rhinos. Black rhino are highly endangered, yet the Namibian government grants custodianship over these iconic animals in communal conservancies and on tourism concessions, where they are protected by conservancy game guards and Rhino rangers trained by Save the Rhino Trust Fund.
By 1986, Save the Rhino Fund was supporting three tracking teams and ten community game guards and had established a more efficient monitoring system. Currently this has grown to eleven tracking teams and sixty-six community game guards. Through extensive tracking to document and photograph the Rhino populations within the regions, it serves as one of the deterrents to poachers. The ‘boots on the ground’ approach is subsidized by the ‘mules on the ground’ project, which incorporates the use of trained mules to help access the vast previously inaccessible areas within the rough and rugged tertian within which these animals roam. Covering an area of 25,000 km2, SRT’s trackers come from local communities living in the areas and possess a deep knowledge of rhinos and their surroundings. Their skills are tested during long patrols, on foot in an area with no national park status, no fences and no controls over who enters and exits.
All Black Rhino in Namibia belong to the State and Save the Rhino Trust Fund with the sole Memorandum of Understanding with the Namibian Government and mandate to audit and monitor the black Rhino populations within the Kunene and Erongo Regions. SRTF acts as the umbrella organization with the custodian agreements in the area.
In 2020 the global conservation union, IUCN, revised the status of the south-western black Rhino subspecies (Diceros bicornis bicornis) from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘near threatened’, meaning that it is considered less vulnerable to extinction. Although still endangered, the black Rhino is still under threat, particularly for its horn, which is in high demand for eastern traditional medicines. Part of the Save the Rhino Trust’s work is education and awareness campaigns against this trade. The species has been afforded the highest conservation status internationally and it is considered to be one of the top ten most endangered mammals on earth.
2012 saw the ugly head of rhino poaching emerge after nearly ten years, necessitating the implementation of additional conservation and monitoring measures. As a response, Save the Rhino launched the Rhino Ranger programme, which assigns residents of the communities to care for the Rhinos.
When it comes to black Rhino populations worldwide, Namibia is now leading the pack. There are an estimated 2300 black Rhinos in the nation; these are all subspecies that have adapted to live in the desert. In the Kunene region, more than a hundred are at large. Today, Namibia is hosting 35 % of the world’s remaining black rhino population and 84 % of the South-western subspecies, bringing them back from the verge of extinction. A true conservation success story that needs continuous support!
Photo credit for all images used in this article – Martin Britz