Black rhino translocated to Chad
The rhino are being translocated to the Zakouma National Park, which has experienced a dramatic decrease in poaching since 2010.
SIX black rhino have been translocated from the Eastern Cape to Chad following a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Management between South Africa and Chad.
“The MOU signed between [the two countries] in October established a bilateral custodianship arrangement between our countries, which means the rhino will be placed under the protective care of the Republic of Chad and that any calves born will belong to Chad, but can be used to establish new rhino populations within the continent in line with the African Rhino Range States Conservation Plan,” Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, said in a statement.
Molewa and the then Minister of Environment and Fisheries of the Republic of Chad, Dr Ahmat Mbodou Mahamat, signed two MoUs last year.
The second MoU allows for the translocation of black rhino from South Africa to Chad as part of an initiative to reintroduce rhino to the African country.
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“By establishing a viable and secure rhino population of rhino in Chad, we are contributing to the expansion of the rhino population in Africa, and the survival of a species that has faced high levels of poaching for the past decade,” she said.
The Department of Environmental Affairs said the translocation of black rhino is being achieved through a collaboration between the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Government of Chad, South African National Parks (SANParks) and the African Parks Foundation.
The rhino are being translocated to the Zakouma National Park, which has experienced a dramatic decrease in poaching since 2010, with the local elephant population increasing for the first time in more than a decade. The last black rhino in Chad was noted in the 1970s in Zakouma.
“Translocation is but one of the interventions being implemented by South Africa as a part of the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros Approach,” Minister Molewa said.
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