SKUKUZA – SANParks has begun moving rhino from the Kruger National Park (KNP) in attempt to safeguard them from poachers.
This is in line with a rhino management strategy adopted by cabinet in August, with which it is also aiming to stimulate population growth aimed at curbing poaching in the country’s national parks.
“We are now ready to move and to begin implementation of our entire rhino management strategy,” Mr Kuseni Dlamini, SANParks chairman said on Wednesday.
“Relocation is the core of our approach – not only to combat poaching, but to ensure the continued growth of the rhino population. We aim to restimulate growth in large protected areas while creating new rhino strongholds. In this way, we will be able to offset the effects of poaching in the short to medium term, while expanding rhino range and improving the overall population size.
“The strategy is multifaceted, and includes relocating some rhino from Kruger to create rhino strongholds in other parts of the country – ensuring that the broader population continues to grow.
“We will begin by relocating rhino from specific high-risk parts of the park and from areas where there is a high population density, as this will also increase birth rates among the animals that remain in the park.
“This will include the relocation of rhino from high-risk zones to zones of lower risk in KNP, as well as to other parks under our control.
Increasing births and decreasing death rates, through the relocation exercise, will stimulate growth in large protected areas and maximise growth in strongholds.”
The relocation of rhino and other species from Kruger has always been part of SANParks’ management plan, and the relocation of 1 450 rhino from the park from 1997 to 2013 has contributed significantly to the growth of the South African rhino population.
SANParks is currently finalising provisions for the sale of rhino and will call for offers to purchase in a series of newspaper advertisements soon.
The SANParks board recently cancelled a planned sale because proper governance procedures were not followed. “We have ironed these issues out and the sale will be fully compliant with our own supply chain processes and our conservation mandate,” Dlamini continued.
“Planning is already well underway for the first auction of rhino, which will take place later this year.”
He emphasised that SANParks would strictly regulate prospective purchasers, and they would be required to sign agreements to ensure relocated animals contribute to the conservation of the species and the growth of the population as a whole.
“These agreements will be linked to management plans with clear objectives and targets for the growth of populations that are being introduced in new range areas,” he said.A due diligence process will be followed with all sales, including background checks on prospective buyers, and anyone wanting to purchase more than 20 rhino has to comply with habitat and ecological suitability and security requirements.
This process includes a risk assessment to ensure the safety of the animals, and buyers will be required to present a security as well as a conservation plan.
The money raised from the sale will be ploughed back into conservation. This includes the purchase of additional conservation land to expand the range for rhino, the restoration of ecosystems and the employment of additional rangers.
