Helicopters translocate endangered black rhinos to protected territories

Bad-tempered and powerful, the black rhino does not initially seem to be in much need of human protection. But with the persisting demands of rhino horns on the black Asian market, this critically endangered animal is hunted to the last 4,500 individuals in the wild globally. This was emphasized once more in October when WWF Vietnam announced that the last Javan rhino had been killed and which has now completely vanished from the Vietnamese landscape.

So it is with renewed hope that the world welcomed WWF Black Rhino Range Expansion Project’s newest endeavour in creating another rhino population west of the Kruger National Park.

This will be the seventh relocation led by Dr. Jacques Flamand, project leader of the programme. The trek starts from the Eastern Cape and ends 1,500km (930 miles) away in the Limpopo province that fulfills “a high standard of security”, which is now home to 19 additional black rhinos.

A new translocation technique ensured that the rhinos remained under anaesthetic for a shorter amount of time, which reduced risks to the animals’ respiratory system. A helicopter airlifts them by the ankles over tough or inaccessible terrain to awaiting lorries.

“Previously rhinos were either transported by lorry over very difficult tracks, or airlifted in a net. This new procedure is gentler on the darted rhino because it shortens the time it has to be kept asleep with drugs, the respiration is not as compromised as it can be in a net and it avoids the need for travel in a crate over terrible tracks,” explains Dr. Flamand in a statement.

“Another advantage is that rhinos can be more easily removed from dangerous situations, for example if they have fallen asleep in a donga or other difficult terrain after being darted. The helicopter translocation usually takes less than ten minutes, and the animals suffer no ill effect. All of the veterinarians working on the translocation agreed that this was now the method of choice for the well-being of the animals.”

The seven new black rhino populations are carefully monitored. So far, the groups are thriving and nearly 120 animals have thus benefited from an increased range by about 150,000 hectares since the start of the programme in 2003.

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This release was published on openPR.