This is the ninth blog post in the Wildlife Conservation series by South African safari ranger/guide Pierre Mouton. Learn more about Pierre in his first post; check out his thoughts on conservancy here; read his account of a day in the life of a safari ranger; follow along as Pierre and his tracker, Service, watch a leopardess catch a cane rat; check out some adorable baby animals; learn more about a leopard killing for survival; meet An Unlikely King; and discover the Thunder Bird. See more of Pierre’s wildlife photos on his Facebook page.
One of the last pre-historic looking animals left in the world, rhinos are very interesting looking creatures and by far my favorite animal.
In South Africa there are 2 main species of Rhino. The Rhino belongs to the “Big 5”, who as we all know are a huge tourist attraction to the African bush destinations. Notoriously, the Black Rhino was the reason for their inclusion to the Big 5 due to its very aggressive attitude. Remember, the Big 5 is not the 5 biggest animals, but the 5 most dangerous animals to hunt on foot in Africa. So compared to its aggressive cousin, the White Rhino can be seen as a little more timid. This is due to their feeding habits and directly related to their habitat, the environment they are found in.
Let me explain:
White Rhino vs. Black Rhino
Firstly, the color mentioned in their names is most confusing to the first time safari guest. The Black rhino is so named because the first one was found at the Black river in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. It is in fact brown in color.
The White rhino’s name is due to a “broken telephone” effect. The original name was an Afrikaans word – Wyd Lip, which means wide lip, referring to the animal’s square lip. However, due to misinterpretation, Wide lip turned into White lip and the rest is history.
So the more correct names would be Square Lip (White) and Hook Lip (Black). Both these names are connected to their method of feeding.
A Square-lip Rhino only eats grass. Therefore having a wide mouth would be more efficient to graze. This also affects other physical features like the lowered head and longer neck to reach down.
A “Square-lip” or White Rhino
A Hook-lip Rhino only eats leaves. Here its prehensile lip (being able to use it like a hand) is effective in picking leaves from the trees. The head is rounder and placed higher on the rhino’s body compared to the Square-lipped.
A “Hook-lip” or Black Rhino
Here is a nice visual comparison:
These two very unique species are of great importance to the eco system and we are loosing both at an unfortunately rapid rate.
The biggest reason for the loss of rhino is Poaching – the illegal hunting and killing of an animal. Poached animals are usually killed for some specific element that is traded illegally on the “black market”.
Rhinos are poached for their characteristic horn. The horn consists of Keratin, the same substance you hair and nails are made up of. It has been scientifically proven to have no medicinal uses. Unfortunately, ancient Eastern medicine believes it has an aphrodisiac effect as well as some other uses. Other Eastern cultural uses are: cure for headaches and fever and a tonic after overindulgence in eating and drinking.
Nowadays it is only purchased as a status symbol because of the rarity and escalating price. The horns are sold for an estimated $60,000 per kilogram, which means that it’s a very high reward, low risk operation.
The high market value of rhino horn unfortunately means that very poor people will go through extreme measures and even risk their lives just to get their hands on rhino horn.
There are approximately 20,000 White rhino and less than 5000 Black rhino left in the world. Rhino poaching in South Africa over the past 3 years has increased by about 110%. This year has been the worst so far, 946 rhinos poached compared to last year’s 668. This means a rhino is poached in South Africa every 8-10 hours. Their reproduction rate is estimated at 7% per year, which means that in the next 2 years the rhino population could go into a negative growth curve.
Rhino poaching is an ever growing and sophisticated organized crime and also linked to terrorist movements. It is run out of the current Asian countries including Republic of China, Vietnam, Thailand, Yemen and South Korea.
What is being done, you ask?
Poaching is an epidemic and many measures are currently being implemented to stop it from escalating even more. These attempts are by no means the solution to the problem but they do a great deal to slow down the process.
One such measure being implemented is that of Rhino Horn Infusion. A company that is doing revolutionary work in this method is RRP – Rhino Rescue Project, skilled teams of vets and their capture teams work with the rhinos. I’d like to give you a brief explanation of what rhino horn infusion is.
The procedure starts by identifying which rhino needs to be darted. This is done by the management of the reserve and verified while flying in helicopters over the reserve. The veterinarian who sits in the helicopter will confirm the size and suitability of the rhino for darting. The vet then makes up the correct dosage of anesthetic dart and fires it out of the helicopter into the hindquarter of the rhino. The dart takes approximately 5-7 min to take effect and the rhino is monitored from the air by the helicopter and the vet while the ground crew is directed through radios. Once the drug has taken effect the rhino slows down and eventually lies down. The ground crew rushes in to blindfold the animal and to ensure that it is lying in the correct position.
Once the vet is satisfied the team begins drilling a hole into the center of the horn above the growth plate. The horn is made of Keratin (finger nails) and the procedure is completely painless for the rhino. A DNA sample is taken from the horn, tail and skin, to use as evidence should that rhino be poached at a later date. A microchip for identification of the horn is also inserted and then the infusion tube is inserted into the drilled hole. The tube is connected to the infusion device, which is a cylinder under 9 bars of pressure that forces the dye and poison into the horn.
After 30 minutes the procedure is complete and the holes are closed up and sealed.
The vets reverse the anesthetic and the rhino takes only a few minutes to wake up again with no knowledge of the whole procedure.
The dye is internal and does not affect the outward appearance of the horn and the rhino can continue on as it naturally would.
Other solutions would be to bring technology, which nowadays is freely available to us, into the conservation of vulnerable animals and ecosystems. A company that has dedicated its time to doing so is www.ActivatingAfrica.com. They will be using the help of smart phone apps, tracking devices and anti-poaching teams for better planning of patrols and spatial analysis of incidents to create maps of poaching activity to help managers with anti-poaching deployments.
Michael Grover, co-director and founder of Activating Africa, was kind enough to supply me with the above information. He has been a great influence in the fight against rhino poaching and will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.
More effort will be needed in the near future for this war to end. If you feel you need to get involved in any of these activities to lend a hand, please feel free to ask me for guidance. You are welcome to leave your questions and requests on my Facebook page Pierre Mouton Out ‘n Wild.
Herewith, I would like to thank the Global Conversation: Our Planet team for giving me this amazing opportunity. I loved sharing my knowledge and experiences with you throughout this Conservation series.
Hope to see you all in the future with more life changing stories of the African Bush.
-Pierre Mouton
Lets get Out ‘n Wild!
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This entry reflects the authors’ personal judgments and does not represent the views of the United States Government or the Department of State.
