However, at the end of the 19th century, when the first sanctuaries were established in South Africa, only a few dozen animals were assumed. New maps representing the historical and recent distribution of the African species of rhinoceros - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. How many rhinoceros are needed to maintain a viable population and grow resilient genetic diversity? "Ian Player has proven that a stock of just under 500 animals can be enough," says the German veterinarian and specialist for assisted reproduction of large mammals, Dr. Can new scientific research and technology help to increase the population?īut how far can the stocks of rhino be decimated? Scientists talk about the Minimum viable population (MVP), which is the lower bound on the population of a species, so that it can survive in the wild. According to the breeders, if the ban is not lifted it is not the breeders but the poachers' syndicates who continue to make high profits - and continue poaching. In fact, several private breeders have announced that they will stop breeding if the ban is not relaxed. Their argument: Only the legal sale of horn can cover the immense cost of rhinoceros breeding. He and many other breeders are in favor of a complete lifting of the international trade ban in horn imposed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). “We need to encourage everyone in the country to breed rhino and the only way to do that is to legalise the trade,” says John Humes who filed a lawsuit against South Africa's domestic trade ban on horn – and won at the country's highest court last year. Despite public debates as to what extend wildlife should be owned privately, even large conservation organizations, like for example the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), acknowledge this practice as a possible way.īut how do private owners and breeders assess the situation today? South African John Hume is the largest private rhino breeder in the world, currently owning more than 1.600 rhino with close to 200 rhino calves born each year. This is considered a promising strategy in South Africa to encourage buyers to protect their "investment" in the best possible way. The second core of the former “Operation Rhino” was to sell animals, to give them a value and to foster private property as a base for the flourishing private game parks today. The model of farming rhinos has been coming under threat as it is more and more difficult and expensive to feed and protect the animals from poaching. Rhino Force Anti-Poaching Rangers observing a group of farm rhinos in South Africa. Is breeding rhinos and legal sale of horn the solution? He wants to stabilize and increase their population in a high-security protection zone. The idea is to bring the Black Rhino back into their natural home range in Zimbabwe. His New Rhino Project plans to establish a group of Black Rhinos in Zimbabwe's Lower Zambezi Valley – it is an area where they've lived before and had to be evacuated thirty years ago due to increased poaching pressure. Ralph Koczwara's Rhino Force direct-action conservation organization realises a combination of projects, all designed to save the species through measure which complement each other.
The evacuation and redistribution of threatened rhino groups is still common practice in African countries, where there are still rhinos left. And the third pillar will be the re-introduction of rhinos in our sanctuary we leased from the state of Zimbabwe." The New Operation Rhino - Will it work in today's Ecosystem? Then we want to establish a bio bank, a cryo conservation facility called Cryovault, which is the second. “We're trying to stop poaching in the Greater Kruger in South Africa, that's our first pillar. The fact that there are about 20,000 White Rhinos today is largely due to Player's Operation Rhino.īut would it be repeatable? Could a "New Operation Rhino" be successful today?Īs described earlier in our developing story, Koczwara's strategy is based on a '3-pillar-approach'. His "Operation Rhino" made it into the history books and into the collective memories of many people around the globe that are concerned with wildlife and environmental issues. In his 1972 published book "The White Rhino Saga", the environmental activist, who had already become famous, recalled his memories of his beginnings. Operation Rhino - a historical Milestone in Wildlife Conservation These are the memories of a young game warden, alone at a campfire in the bush in South Africa. Never had I been so impressed and at the same time strangely involved with an animal.“
„I could think of nothing but the White Rhino.
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