to read - Save the Rhino

Conversation for
conservation
Magazine Autumn 2008
Events schedule 2008-09
4
Corned beef and rhino capers; Namibia
5
Cool stuff in Namibia
6 -7
A sixth sense for rhino; Nambia
Waxin’ lyrical for potential funders
8
Kondobole and Subilo settle into their
new homes; Zambia
10
Radio rhino; Zimbabwe
11
Reading beyond the headlines; Zimbabwe
12
Face to face; South Africa
13
Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture
Pecha Kucha
SRI
For this issue of The Horn, we turned to
“communication” as the theme for our articles.
Cathy Dean
Director
W
14-15 A co-operative effort to save the Sumatran rhino; Indonesia
Getting my hands dirty in Sumatra
16-17 Enduring challenges for rhinos
Moving rhinos to Manas
21
Climbing Kilimanjaro for rhinos
22
Comrades, rhinos, marathon men
23
African Rhino Specialists at work; Tanzania
24
Communicating bush style; Tanzania
25
Look who’s talking
For your ears only; Kenya
28
The role of intelligence in rhino security; Kenya
29
Sustainable living
30
The small five
31
Thank you
A rhino tattoo!
Well, we don’t get to talk to rhinos every
day, although some lucky people do (see
the articles by Lucy and Alison). When I
read Anna Merz’s book, Rhino at the
brink of extinction, I learned that far
from being stupid, solitary, dull but
aggressive animals, rhinos are
CATHY DEAN
LIZZIE WHITEBREAD
RENAUD FULCONIS
LIZZIE WHITEBREAD
26-27 Ambassadors for conservation; Tanzania
ROBIN RADCLIFFE
20
Contents
18-19 London Marathon – Charge of the Tutu
ikipedia has the usual
helpful introduction to
the subject, including the
following observations:
“[communication] requires a vast
repertoire of skills in intrapersonal
and interpersonal processing, listening,
observing, speaking, questioning,
analyzing, and evaluating... Animal
communication is any behaviour on the
part of one animal that has an effect on
the current or future behaviour of another
animal. Of course, human communication
can be subsumed as a highly developed
form of animal communication.”
inquisitive, sometimes playful and
socially adept, using a wide range of
distinct squeals, snorts and grunts to
communicate with others. I’ll admit that
they aren’t up there with eles but,
nonetheless, they’re far more interactive
than is often portrayed.
Most discussion is still done via email
(I can remember sending my first-ever email
as recently as 1996; so hard to remember
the days of swearing at the fax machine as
the paper-feed jammed once again) and I
have to remind myself that something that’s
perfectly OK said in person can read
completely differently onscreen. Luckily I’ve
met just about everyone we work with now,
and the few I haven’t met yet, I will later this
year (Ed Sayer and Claire Lewis from North
Luangwa) or other SRI people have (Dave
Robertson and Dirk Swart from HluhluweiMfolozi). So we get by pretty well.
By far the best though, is spending time
with people in the field, and I’d particularly
like to thank Tony and Lucy Fitzjohn, and
Fraser Smith for hosting me in Mkomazi and
the Selous this year, and Martin Brooks and
Richard Emslie for inviting me to the 2008
African Rhino Specialist Group meeting.
As you’ll read later in this issue, there’s
nothing quite like a beer by the pool at the
end of a 15-hour day, or a soak in a river
after a hot day’s flying, for a chance to talk
yet more rhino.
There are quite a few days when grunts,
snorts and squeals are all I seem to be
capable of, as the team here will agree.
Fortunately, our in-country men (and
women) are a literate lot and liaising
with them over the latest developments
from Assam to Zimbabwe is ever easier. I
have a lengthening list of Skype
contacts, from the lovely Michelle Gadd
at USFWS and Susie Ellis at the IRF, to
Duncan Purchase in Bulawayo and
Richard Emslie in Pietermaritzburg. We
“chat” or call as often as we need: as the
service is free, we can afford to.
Pecha Kucha Asia
3 Peaks 3 Weeks Challenge 2009
Seventh Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture
Flora London Marathon
Rhino Mayday
Horny@50 Tennis Dinner: Martina Navratilova
Horny@50 various sports dinners
ING New York City Marathon 2009
3 Peaks 3 Weeks Challenge 2010
Rhino Climb Kilimanjaro
Rhino Climb Kenya
Events
Schedule:
SAVE THE RHINO
LCATHY DEAN
LUCY & CHARLIE NOEL BUXTON
LUCY & CHARLIE NOEL BUXTON
MARK SAINSBURY
3
Friends, rhinos, in-country men, lend me your ears
FRIENDS, RHINOS,
IN-COUNTRYMEN,
LEND ME YOUR EARS!
Thursday 13 November 2008
January 2009
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Sunday 26 April 2009
May 2009 (date tbc)
Friday 19 June 2009
Dates tbc
Sunday 1 November 2009
January 2010
Dates to suit
Dates to suit
For more information about any of these, please email events@savetherhino.org
or alternatively call + 44 (0)20 7357 7474.
5
Namibia:
Cool stuff
in Namibia
Corned beef and
rhino capers
After several weeks in Save the Rhino Trust’s (SRT) office in
Swakopmund, Namibia, I had filed rhinos, catalogued pictures of
rhinos and written about rhinos in every possible way, but had yet
to see one in real life. It was therefore with unusual enthusiasm
(given the early start) that we packed up the Landcruiser and
headed north to my first taste of the wilderness: Ugab base camp.
Grant Cole
Nephew of Trustee Christina Franco
Left:
Hannah Grist
Above:
SRT Tracking team
T
he Ugab River forms the southern border of the huge 25,000km2 of rocky desert
that is the patrolling ground of SRT. It was only after driving several hours across
boulders at a 45° incline without seeing another soul, that I not only began to
appreciate the expertise of my driver, Director of Field Operations Bernd Brell,
but also the real on-the-ground challenges of working in this brutally inhospitable terrain.
The next day was spent reaching our final destination, the arid mountains of the Palmwag
concession in the north-western corner of the country. Here I met the team of four trackers
who were to accompany Bernd and me on a tracking patrol, part of the five-year census
efforts to see and identify every rhino in the area.
The next ten days were spent camping in the depths of the mountains, armed with little more
than a bedding roll and a kettle. Each day we were up at dawn, and after the all-important
first cup of tea, piled into a 4WD vehicle to trundle across to nearby waterholes, the most
likely place to pick up signs of rhino. Rhino “spoor,” or tracks, are the most obvious pointers,
and ones that even I could learn to spot. However, the skill of the team in finding broken
branches, displaced rocks and barely visible tracks was staggering, particularly as they could
follow these signs for many miles across a landscape composed of rocks and scrub bushes,
without ever breaking their incredible pace.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY HANNAH GRIST
Despite this, my first official rhino sighting on the second day was unexpected. After
spending hours following tracks that meandered up and down a fence, we finally lost the trail
and decided to head deeper into the area by vehicle to try to pick up fresher spoor. We were
bouncing up and down along the track when suddenly one of the trackers gave a shout that
he had spotted something. With help and a decent pair of binoculars, it still took me a minute
Below:
Marking Rhino ID Card
6
to be able to discern an oddly shaped
bush in the distance, moving very slowly:
my first rhino.
Even with the phenomenal skills of the
trackers, finding rhinos in such a huge area
is not an easy task. They move during the
mornings, and then have a long midday
siesta when finding them is virtually
impossible. After about three o’clock the
rhinos are up and on the move again,
Grants
We have been able to send over lots of grants
to SRT recently:
£7,358 to pay for the running costs of Lesley
Karutjaiva’s vehicle. Fuel prices have risen
dramatically in Namibia over the last few months
and budgeting ahead is proving challenging.
£6,168 of this came from the proceeds of the
Rhino Cycle Namibia in 2007, while the rest came
from private donations from John West, Alex
Wood and Lucy Holmes, and others. £25,000
for an alternative energy scheme at Palmwag,
involving solar panels and grey-water recycling,
paid for by the Ashden Trust and the Desert
Cycle 2007 team, in memory of Mike Hearn
(1972-2005). £3,000 from the Desert Cycle 2008
team for a new gearbox for Rudi Loutit’s vehicle.
£5,000 from the Desert Cycle 2008 team
for (the rising) fuel costs associated with the
completion of the five-year census. We have just
received a grant of $39,951 from USFWS to buy a
new vehicle for Lesley Karutjaiva, head of one of
the other tracker teams.
We would like to thank very much indeed all
the donors and cyclists, who have made these
grants possible.
and if we did not find a fresh trail by 4pm
or so, it would be time to head slowly back
towards base camp. (Although teams have
been known to follow a trail for so many
miles that they have to walk several hours
back to the vehicle in the dark; a challenge
I am glad I didn’t have to face on such
treacherous terrain.) Despite their heavy
appearance, rhinos nimbly pick their way up
the mountainsides and easily outpaced us.
The experience of being out and walking
from dawn until dusk and spending the
nights under the huge starry expanse of
African sky is one that the most expensive
health spas would be hard-pushed to
replicate. You achieve a zen-like calm that
not even the prospect of the daily corned
beef ration can perturb. Even more than
this, you have the knowledge of a job well
done. Since SRT began working in the area,
the rhino numbers have nearly tripled and
the incidence of poaching is now almost
non-existent. Coming back to Gatwick
Airport, with the noise and intrusiveness of
a big city, I couldn’t help feeling that there
are worse ways to make a living.
Thanks
I am really grateful to the Linbury Trust,
which has funded the Michael Hearn
Internship Programme, together with
additional support from the Ashden
Charitable Trust, the JJ Charitable Trust
and the Mark Leonard Trust. This has been
a wonderful year.
The next ten days were spent
camping in the depths of the
mountains, armed with little
more than a bedding roll and
a kettle.
CHRISTINA FRANCO
Hannah Grist
Michael Hearn Intern 2007-8
t, Alex and Mich ell e
Be rnd, Fly (on tru ck), Gran
T
his summer my brother, Alex,
my mum and I went to Namibia
and met up with our Auntie
Christina. We got to experience
a lot of cool stuff in Africa. It took us over
30 hours to fly there from where we live in
Boise, Idaho. After many hours in the car we
arrived at the Save the Rhino camp, where
we stayed the first night. That night we went
for a walk with Bernd and his dog, Shamira.
She chased after a pack of baboons, which
is not very smart because baboons can be
really dangerous.
The next morning we drove in Bernd’s car
for several hours on our way to a campsite
in the middle of nowhere. We weren’t even
on a real road! One time Bernd had to get
out and cut away at some bushes with a
panga so that we could get through. On the
way Bernd and Fly kept stopping to look at
rhino tracks and dung. Thanks to their great
tracking we were able to see a rhino! And
she was pregnant! It was really neat to see a
real, live rhino so close! But once we found
her we were stuck in that spot for a long
time. We couldn’t drive past her because
Bernd didn’t want her to get scared by the
cars and run off in the wrong direction.
It was cool to see how SRT works to keep
track of the rhinos. We were so lucky to be
with them. This was the trip of a lifetime.
7
A sixth sense for rhinos
I’m just about to leave Namibia, where I have been
assisting the Ministry of Environment and Tourism
with the latest batch of translocations.
Alison Kennedy-Benson
O
n the eve of a black rhino
release, I am filled with
many conflicting
emotions. I am extremely
excited to open the gate and watch the
beautiful beast walk out, browsing as
she dissolves into the bush, the sounds
of her munching fading away. I am
terribly saddened to be saying goodbye
to one of my friends; my ‘children’
even, as I have seen her through good
times and bad every second of every
day for the past two months. My special
girl, who has come to greet me at the
fence every morning for a scratch and
a cuddle and then again in the
afternoon to bounce and spin and run
and play, is venturing back out into the
wild where she belongs. I am nervous
for her as she now has to adjust to a
new environment. I am relieved that
the baby she carries will see the world
for the first time in the bush, as it
should be, and a birth in the holding
pens (bomas) is extremely risky. I am
happy too, because I know that even
though she has been content for most
of the past two months, I can tell she is
tired of being held in captivity and
wants to be back where she belongs.
How can I tell that she is ready to go?
Is it a sixth ‘rhino sense’ that alerts me
to her frustration? Do I have some
special way of communicating with
these rhino? I don’t believe so. What I
do have is a passion for rhino, and the
patience to sit with them every second
of every day from the moment they are
caught and brought into the bomas. By
spending so much time observing and
interacting with them, one begins to
pick up on and tune into individual
characteristics and behaviours. Wildcaught rhinos are extremely stressed
and agitated. They have been forced
into a completely unnatural situation
with foreign sounds, smells and sights
that they have spent their lives
avoiding. By spending so much time
with them, they begin to get
accustomed to and identify my voice
and my smell. They begin to realise
that I am not a threat and it takes a
surprisingly short amount of time for
them to trust me enough to take food
from my hand, offer their cheek for a
scratch, or start to bounce around if
they are feeling playful.
With time and experience, I have
learned how to approach and handle
rhinos, but each one is unique and I
must constantly change and adapt to
each individual rhino just as much as
they must learn to adapt to me. Though
I spend a lot of time talking to rhinos, I
believe they respond more to how I say
what I say, than the words that I
choose. There is no doubt in my mind
that they can also pick up on my energy
when I am nervous or excited. On a
loading or release day, I try to keep
their routine as normal as possible to
minimise stress on the animal, but they
often get restless or agitated
beforehand, when my state of mind is
the only thing that is different from an
average day at the bomas.
what they really do and how conservation and sustainability actions fit into the larger picture of saving the planet.
Convention of Biological Signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Summit, the CBD is dedicated
Diversity (CBD) to promoting sustainable development.
CBD recognises that biological diversity is about more than plants, animals and
micro organisms and their ecosystems, it is about people and their need for food
security, medicines, fresh air and water, shelter, and a clean and healthy
environment in which to live.
For example, the Body Shop Foundation, a supporter of Save the Rhino, is active in the development
arena and thus our proposals need to reflect that we too know what we are talking about, words like
“project outcomes” and “conservation impact monitoring” are essential to show our credibility. On
the other hand, when we pitch to corporate partners such as Victor Stationery, who are not
specialists in the field, such phrases might be off-putting or over-dry.
8
RENAUD FULCONIS
Petra Fleischer
Fundraising Manager
The key is recognising that communication means that both sender and receiver understand the
message that is being conveyed. We cannot use the same language for all audiences, but must
adapt our terminology to suit those reading our funding applications and proposals, visiting our
website, hearing our presentations or raising funds for us.
We would like to thank Opel Zoo and the
Ruth Smart Foundation very much indeed
for their support, which enabled us to make
a donation of £2,649 to pay for Alison’s
fees and costs. We’re holding a bit more
cash for the next round of translocations
in Namibia!
Convention on International CITES is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure
Trade in Endangered that the international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not
Species (CITES) threaten their survival.
SRI, use too much jargon when approaching potential funders. It also claimed that NGOs are not clear in stating
T
Thanks
JARGON WHAT IT ACTUALLY MEANS
A report published this year by New Philanthropy Capital said that environmental NGOs, which could well include
The problem is further complicated by changes
in policy priorities and in the resulting buzzwords. We want to show that we are up-to-date
and understand the current jargon, but there’s
a danger that we might lose some people along
the way (including ourselves!). The UNEP Rio
de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992 launched the
expression of “ecosystem approach”, a phrase
very relevant to SRI’s work; the Trade-offs in
Conservation conference at ZSL in 2007
brought “ecosystem services” to our attention
for the first time. And conservation, like many
other professions, is riddled with acronyms (I’ve
managed to get three into this paragraph alone!)
Below:
Rhino held in Boma
before release.
There are times however, when I wish
a rhino could understand my words.
As my best girl wanders out of the
boma for the last time, I wish her well
and thank her for being a very special
part of my life for the past two months.
Waxin’ lyrical for potential funders…
hose working in the field know that the symbiotic relationships occurring in nature break
down if you remove or pollute one element. We also know that this will have an effect on
human populations’ ability to use natural resources, the so-called ecosystem services.
Think acid rain. But how do we communicate these issues to funders and, maybe more
importantly, how do we convey the link between asking someone to pay for new boots for a field
ranger and the long-term benefits for the planet that practical conservation actions bring?
ALISON KENNEDY-BENSON
Namibia:
Ecosystem services The benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include:
Products obtained from an ecosystem (food, fresh water, genetic resources)
Benefits obtained from ecosystem processes (i.e. the regulation of climate and water)
Non-material benefits from ecosystem such as aesthetic and social values
Services that support the services listed above, like biomass and oxygen
production, soil formation and prevention of soil erosion, nutrient and water
cycling, habitats, pollination, shade and shelter etc.
Ecosystem approach An ecosystem approach ensures that management decisions don’t adversely
affect the health of an ecosystem and its services. It ensures that natural
resources are used within their limits both on a small and large scale, and for the
long term.
Account for true value Monetary valuation of an ecosystem that takes into consideration its services and
goods, not just the commodity value of extracted goods.
For anyone who’d like to learn a bit more
conservation jargon and acronyms, check
these out:
9
Zambia:
transmitter yet implanted, traditional foot
tracking was the only method by which we
would find him and with rough and rocky
terrain that proved to be quite difficult
under a pressure situation. Almost three
hours after being darted Subilo was spotted.
Fortunately the dart had not been well
placed and although affected by the drug he
was still moving. A second dart immobilised
him and the teams moved in to repeat the
same operations. Unlike Kondobole, Subilo’s
day had been more stressful and he hadn’t
travelled well but those that remained for
his release were happy to report that once
awake he quietly walked out of the crate,
moved away a short distance and took a few
bites of browse before wandering off.
Kondobole and Subilo settle
in to their new homes
To make space for the arrival of five new rhino in May 2008 to North Luangwa National
Park, it was necessary to move two of the more dominant existing bulls from one of the
rhino sanctuaries. One of them, Kondobole, would be put into a different sanctuary with
two females, while Subilo would be released close to Julila and her sub adult calf living
outside the fences – the smell of Julila being too tempting to pass up!
Claire Lewis
Technical Advisor, North Luangwa Conservation Programme
For those not familiar with the process of a radio transmitter implant, here’s what happens. Holes
are actually drilled into the horn! It sounds horrific and is quite a sight. The hole is made near
the base, the thicker part of the horn, for the D-cell sized transmitter to fit in, and then the wire
antenna is threaded through a labyrinth of tunnels carefully ‘carved’ through the tip of the horn.
The whole contraption is then cemented in place using a dental acrylic mixture that sets very hard
and very quickly. At the same time there is lots of other activity going on, with breathing checked
every minute, drugs administered, and measurements and photographs taken of feet, horn
profiles, ears and any distinguishing marks to help future identification. A good general overall
check on cuts, scrapes, teeth and removal of ticks finishes off the whole process.
We are very pleased to announce that we
were able to send £10,000 from SRI’s own
core funds for NLCP. £6,100 of this was
for the annual ranger training programme,
and £3,900 for the construction of new
fences and observation posts. We also sent
over four large boxes of kit – a mixture of
Tshirts, fleeces, thermal mugs, beanie hats
etc – that had been donated by Suzuki UK,
George Stephenson and others.
10
Below:
Rhino horn shaving
On the other hand, the next day, Subilo
caused us all sorts of trouble. After darting
him he ‘disappeared’. For two hours he was
nowhere to be seen and thoughts of him
falling into water and drowning, or collapsing
in a difficult position and not being able to
breathe were not far-fetched. With no radio
The teams set off to Subilo’s area and stayed overnight close by. The following morning, the
rhino team picked up a signal and Pete went in on foot to dart him. He was out on an open plain
and once immobilised it took a while to find him (again!) amongst the long grass and longer
still for more road to be cut in to where he lay. Unlike the short trip for his release a few weeks
before, he stayed on his feet and had a much better trip. The convoy set off at about 14:00hrs
and slowly made their way along the hastily created, bumpy road back. Finally, as dawn broke,
fifteen hours on the road and one puncture later, Subilo was woken up inside the top sanctuary
to join Kondobole and the two females.
Without that radio transmitter, who knows how long it would have taken us to find Subilo.
Fortunately, all we hear now is the regular ‘ping’ through the receiver from the transmitter
embedded inside his horn, to give us an idea of his whereabouts!
Above:
Drilling into the rhino horn
Main image:
Trying to trace the rhino
using the newly fitted
transmitter
Right:
“to me…to you…” bears a
heavy but precious load
Thanks
Below right:
The long journey home
begins
Thanks to NLCP staff, ZAWA scouts,
Conservation Foundation, Edmund Farmer,
Skytrails, Parsons Aviation, Glenton
Combes, Les and Deb Ware, Dr Pete Morkel,
Dixon Zimba (the NLCP tractor driver) and
everyone who took part and made this
operation a success.
ED SAYER
Grants
Once the newly arrived rhino were settled into life in North Luangwa, it was time to rescue
Subilo. While the new animals had been released over a series of days and nights (with new
transmitters) a road team had slashed, dug, chopped and fashioned nearly 40km of new road
through to the area Subilo had been utilising. The rhino monitoring patrol teams had stuck
with him through his six weeks in the wilderness and been able to track his browsing, drinking,
sleeping and resting spots during that time.
Kondobole was a dream passenger and
didn’t push, shove, crash or bang throughout
the whole operation. Following a short
journey to his new ‘home’, he was taken
out of the crate and placed on the ground.
After administering the final antidote, he
rose gently, huffed a couple of times and
trotted away.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY ON THIS PAGE VALERIA TURRISSI
Kondobole and Subilo had been donated from Pilanesberg and Kruger National Parks in South
Africa in 2006 and had been given radio transmitters on their first release back then. Two years
later, the batteries had died, and now that we were moving them to new areas, it made sense
to give them new transmitters. One of the greatest risks of moving these animals was that they
would immediately try to return to their former home range, jeopardising the new translocation.
Keeping track of their movements in the first few days and weeks after moving them would be
essential in this task.
Fortunately neither animal broke back into
the sanctuaries. Kondobole pottered off and
has settled into his new area. Despite all best
intentions, his radio transmitter has failed,
as sometimes happens, so traditional foot
tracking methods will be used to monitor
him. Subilo moved further away from his
release site and, as the days passed and his
The rhinos then needed to be manhandled
into the transport crate. Getting a sleeping
rhino into a crate is an interesting exercise
in courage. Nonchalantly, Pete (in whose
hands we are mere mortals and quite
probably expendable!) tells us that he’s now
going to wake up the rhino and we are going
to guide him into the crate. It sounds crazy,
it is crazy but it is absolutely an A1 plan and
can work so nicely.
CLAIRE LEWIS
T
he capture plan was set in motion with the rhino scout teams out on foot searching
for the two selected rhino bulls. The radio call came through that Kondobole had
been found and immediately the helicopter and ground teams moved into action.
Radio contact from the helicopter kept us updated on what was happening on the
ground and once Kondobole was down, vet Pete Morkel was dropped off and the rhino scouts
called in to help move Kondobole to shade. The helicopter quickly surveyed a road back to the
waiting capture crew and about 2kms of road was cleared through the thick bush so the ground
teams and equipment could reach the rhino in good time. Meanwhile the helicopter collected the
essentials for fitting a new radio transmitter into Kondobole’s horn.
signal failed to be heard from the ground, fears grew that his transmitter too had failed. Aerial
tracking revealed his transmitter was working and he had continued to journey over 70km
south to the southern boundary of the National Park – far away from roads but close to human
settlement and known poacher routes. With five new rhinos arriving less than ten days later, it
was decided to leave him to settle, put intense monitoring and law enforcement patrols in his
area and wait until we had an opportunity to recapture him.
11
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY LOWVELD RHINO PROJECT
This image:
Local and long-distance communication masts at
Tashinga, Matusadona National Park’s Headquarters
Zimbabwe:
Below:
Looking for rhino signs around Jenji Spring
Below:
Base camp during the Water Hole Count at the
foothills of the Matusadona mountain range
Radio rhino
Communication is something that we are all very used to
and take for granted in our everyday lives. The need and
dependency for communication in a national park is of extreme
importance and Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe is an
example where the primary form of communication in the field
is done by shortwave handheld radios.
Reading beyond
the headlines
Duncan Purchase
Director
Zambezi Society
When we arrived at Vulunduli Subcamp, one of
our volunteer groups had not yet arrived,
although I had expected them to arrive before
us. This was a slight worry. We continued to
Jenji Springs, our designated waterhole,
dropping one group at Gubu River on the way.
When we arrived at our base camp, Douglas,
the Parks Ranger, radioed Tashinga (Park
Headquarters, our central command), to report
that we had arrived at our destination and
gave them our ‘locstat’ (our GPS location). The
importance of this report back meant that a
centralised command knew where we were if
there was any emergency. I asked Douglas to
raise ‘Victor’ (the call sign for Vulunduli
Subcamp), to ask if the missing group had
arrived. Victor responded, ‘Negative’.
The next morning Douglas raised HQ to
indicate that we were about to leave camp and
walk in a westerly direction on local patrol, to
let them know the general area of our
movements. They could inform us of anyone
else in the area, as well as inform other patrols
of our intentions. In an Intensive Protection
Zone (IPZ) where contact with a group of
poachers can sometimes come down to who
shoots first, we need to know if there are other
patrols in our area, and vice versa. I asked
Douglas to raise ‘Victor’ again to enquire about
the missing group, but he said it was not
possible this early in the morning, as their radio
set relied on solar power and the sun was not
high enough in the sky.
12
When we returned to base camp at lunchtime
we raised Victor again, and they confirmed
that the missing group had arrived safely and
were deployed to their waterhole. This was a
great weight off my mind.
We were operating in a wild and rugged area
with the possibility of encountering numerous
dangerous animals. We saw the fresh spoor
(footprints) of rhino, elephant, leopard, lion and
buffalo. If we had had any medical emergency
we could have raised HQ to request support.
Likewise, if we had experienced any
mechanical problem with the vehicle in
this remote wilderness, we could have
alerted HQ.
On one patrol, we came across a partial
shoe footprint that we did not expect to
see. This was a real concern. On closer
inspection, our expert tracker Bekithemba
dated the spoor to the last rainy season, six
months earlier. We found another spoor, and
then Douglas remembered that there was a
Parks patrol in this area at that time. We were
all very relieved. If the spoor had been more
recent then we would have raised HQ and
called for reinforcements. In a full-scale
response to a poaching incident, then radio
communications for coordination is one of the
biggest weapons in the Parks arsenal.
For the morale and safety of the rangers in the
field while they are protecting wildlife, it is
essential to have a good communication
facility in place. Unfortunately it is not always
the case that there are enough radio handsets
available, and sometimes rangers have to go
into a potentially hostile environment, with
absolutely no outside communication.
The rhinos of Lowveld Conservancies were due to be
featured in a BBC Radio 4 Charity Appeal back in May.
Raoul du Toit
Project Executant, Lowveld Rhino Project
Results fr
om the
waterhole
survey are
being
collated a
nd analys
Meanwhil
e
d.
e,
announce we are delighted to
that Bom
rhinos bo
a, one of
rn at Imir
the
e, handre
Tashinga
ared at
and then
re
leased into
wild in M
atusadon
the
a, has giv
to a calf.
en birth
Both are
b
eing close
monitore
ly
d by Park
s rangers
and the Z
ambezi
Society’s
trackers.
T
he appeal was to try to highlight the need for support while the current political
and economic circumstances of Zimbabwe are impacting on rhino populations,
through dramatically increased poaching activity and habitat destruction. With
weak law enforcement, poaching is now more of a threat in the Lowveld region
than it has ever been. Unfortunately, the appeal was postponed, as the BBC felt the timing
was inappropriate, given the extent of the humanitarian problems in Zimbabwe at the
moment and its inability to report from the country.
During times of national crisis, conservation efforts are rarely the priority, but it’s during these times
that environmental projects need more help than ever. It may sound wrong to be raising funds for
rhinos when people are suffering, but it’s vital that we protect a nation’s wildlife resources and
ecosystems because the loss of environmental stability will cause further socio-economic decay, and
will delay a nation’s recovery. Years of hard work in conserving valuable species and national natural
resources can be destroyed in a blink of an eye. Long-term approaches such as the Lowveld Rhino
Project can provide a degree of stability in ways that go beyond species conservation alone – they
help to maintain teamwork and hope amongst a range of stakeholders who are trying to maintain
sustainable land-use options, with rhinos as the flagship species.
Despite the economic decline and adverse social impacts, successful rhino conservation is still
going on in Zimbabwe and is certainly not a lost cause. Over the past year, we have seen an
alarming upsurge in rhino poaching, but there has still been net growth in the Lowveld’s rhino
population. The Lowveld conservancies, including Malilangwe, now hold about 400 black rhinos
(up from 370 in mid 2007), as well as 140 white rhinos, despite the loss to poaching of at least 24
rhinos of both species over the past year. By mid 2008, the conservancies contained at least 74%
of Zimbabwe’s remaining black rhino population and 48% of the national white rhino population.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY DUNCAN PURCHASE
W
e ran our second annual
rhino waterhole count in
Matusadona in the middle
of August. Although we
were obviously looking for rhino and rhino
signs, it also provided a good opportunity to
witness field radio communications at firsthand.
The main activities required to maintain the Lowveld as Zimbabwe’s primary rhino breeding area
have been as follows: a high level of monitoring primarily through ground-tracking and individual
recognition of ear-notched rhinos, supplemented by radio-tracking; “hands-on” rhino conservation
implemented on an intensive basis, with well over 100 drug-darting of black rhinos undertaken
with project staff, equipment and funding over the past year for various security-related and
management-related reasons. Project staff members have also been involved in several
investigations of rhino poaching cases, and the ongoing expansion of illegal horn-trading
syndicates with South African and Asian linkages will unfortunately demand more of this effort.
Below:
Loading a rhino into a
crate, the truck/crane was
partly funded by an EAZA
donation via SRI
Left:
Carla-Sit! The rescued calf
poses for the camera
Despite the economic
decline and adverse social
impacts, successful rhino
conservation is still going
on in Zimbabwe...
Community incentives for rhino breeding also
need urgent implementation so that there is a
carrot as well as a stick to encourage rhino
conservation in the Lowveld.
Of particular significance was the translocation
in October 2007 of nine black rhinos from
Chiredzi River Conservancy, necessitated by
the deteriorating security that had resulted
in at least seven black rhinos being poached
in peripheral sections of the Conservancy.
The translocated rhinos were released within
the more secure Bubye River Conservancy.
In addition, two black rhino calves were
rescued for hand-rearing after poaching
incidents in Chiredzi River Conservancy and
are now undergoing a phased programme
of release into free-range conditions in
Bubye River Conservancy.
Despite the current situation, some major
foreign investors have seen this as an
opportune time to develop shareholdings
in wildlife operations in the Lowveld, and
are likely to support rhino conservation.
So, like these shrewd investors, read beyond
the headlines and see there is still hope for
the rhinos of Lowveld Conservancies.
Grants
We are delighted to be able to announce
that we were able to award £10,000 from
our own core funds to the Lowveld Rhino
Project, and very much hope that we might
be able to reschedule the BBC Radio 4
Charity Appeal before too long.
13
VICKY HUNT
Face to face
Standing next to a rhino dung midden on a hilltop
in Hluhluwe Game Reserve, the awe-inspiring view
takes in endless wilderness and a bird of prey
soars overhead.
Abve:
Dumisani
On a recent holiday to South Africa, my friend
Vicky and I were lucky enough to tie in a visit
to Hluhluwe. As I toil in front of a computer all
week, the chance to go into the field with Dirk
Swart, Section Ranger, and Dumisani
Mpontshane, anti-poaching unit ranger, was a
chance I wasn’t going to miss.
LUCY BODDAM-WHEATHAM
Project visits are extremely constructive in
seeing first hand the benefits of grants and
gives project staff the chance to communicate
future challenges and needs; and they help
boost morale amongst the rangers – someone
has travelled all that way to come and learn
about their work. The Hluhluwe rangers have
had many visitors this year: SCI member
Kerim Hilmi visited in June and three
members of the RAW Africa 2008 team
visited in May. All reported back on how
impressed they were with the set-up in
Hluhluwe, and on the dedication of the staff.
This image:
The perimeter fence
14
As the day started I couldn’t help feeling how
special it was to be able to go off the beaten
track. Dirk talked passionately about his work
and was proud to show me the benefits of all
our fundraising. We were taken to see a part of
the vast perimeter fence. In stark contrast to
my earlier hilltop epiphany, the fence gave a
distinctive difference between the protected
Reserve and the neighbouring farmland.
Although the idea of the Reserve being
completely fenced is initially unappealing, you
could easily picture how quickly encroachment
from the neighbouring farms would happen.
The fence also helps to keep the animals in, so
as to reduce human-wildlife conflict in the
neighbouring communities. Dirk and his team
have to burn fire breaks along the fence line to
prevent fire spreading both in and out of the
Reserve. The ongoing maintenance of the
fence and creation of fire breaks is an uphill
struggle, but one that is extremely worthwhile.
Hluhluwe is renowned for its rhino
conservation, a reputation which has been
upheld with support from funders. As reported
in previous issues of The Horn, grants from
Colchester Zoo’s Action for the Wild fund, from
SCI (London Chapter), and from the SCI
Foundation in the USA, have greatly improved
infrastructure and ad hoc maintenance in the
Reserve. While we bounced along in the truck,
Dirk explained how such grants facilitate the
attainment of tools which make routine work
easier and more efficient, enabling more
man-hours to be spent where it is really
needed, in the field monitoring the rhino; but
also tremendously boosts staff moral.
Towards the end of the day we excitedly came
across a crash of white rhinos who soon took
just as much interest in us, and we hoped that
they didn’t try to “crash” into our truck! There
is nothing quite like seeing such amazing
creatures thriving in their natural
environment and being safe in the knowledge
that field staff such as those at Hluhluwe are
extremely dedicated. Although I am
somewhat jealous of their working day, I know
how lucky I am to be involved in rhino
conservation and the memories of the rhino
dung on the top of that hill is enough
motivation for me.
Fiona Macleod
Events Manager
VICKY HUNT
M
oments like those make you
realise how important
conservation really is, but in
this over-populated and
unyielding world, conserving such a beautiful
place, and the environmental management
involved, requires on-going resources,
equipment and man-power.
Grants
We are delighted to announce that, following
the promotion of Dave Robertson to
Conservation Manager of iMfolozi Game
Reserve, we are also now supporting that
side of the Park. Salzburg Zoo has just made
a donation of 3,000 euros, which will help
pay for camping equipment so that the AntiPoaching Units can cover a wider area.
SCI’s London Chapter held a fundraising
auction on 23 September: we hope it will raise
approx £6,500 to pay for vital equipment for
both sides of the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Language as a Window into Human Nature:
The Sixth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture
This year’s Lecture, in aid of
Douglas Adams’ two favourite
charities, SRI and the EIA, was a
very special event, as it was the
30th anniversary of the first-ever
radio broadcast of The Hitchhiker’s
Guide to the Galaxy. This combined
with a lecture by cognitive
scientist and best selling author,
Professor Steven Pinker, lead to a
sell-out audience at the Royal
Geographical Society in London.
This image:
Dumisani, Vicky, Lucy
Lucy Boddam-Whetham
Office and Communications Manager
Events:
Join us
for the Se
ve
Douglas A nth
dams
Memoria
Wednesda l Lecture on
y 11 Marc
h2
at the Ro
yal Geogra 009
phic
Society in
London, w al
h
Benedict
Allen will en
talk
about his
latest tra
vels.
Tickets w
ill go on
in January sale
.
The event was opened by John Lloyd, long-time
friend of Douglas Adams, co-writer of the fifth
and sixth episodes of Hitchhiker’s and television
producer. He told stories of a young Douglas
Adams and how he came up with the number
42 as the meaning of life!
Professor Steven Pinker then stepped up to
give his lecture, which was enjoyed by all. His
witty and thought-provoking talk kept fans of
Pinker and Douglas, and our dedicated
supporters listening intently throughout.
Following the theme of this issue of The Horn,
communication, Professor Pinker explored how
the words we use expose our hidden thoughts,
emotions and relationships, from indirect
speech, veiled threats and bribes, and sexual
come-ons to swearing and taboos. The audience
members who had read the book, and those
who hadn’t, both found the lecture extremely
interesting and signed copies of his book were
hastily snapped up afterwards.
As this year was the 30th anniversary of the
first performance of Hitchhiker’s, James Thrift,
Douglas’s brother, decided that a live
performance by the original cast would be the
perfect way to mark this special occasion. The
cast included Simon Jones as Arthur Dent and
Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, and the
performance was directed by Dirk Maggs. One
family had travelled all the way from America
to see this reunion.
Pecha Kucha Asia
James Thrift kindly stepped in as auctioneer and
managed to get the audience bidding healthily.
The time he’d spent as a sheep auctioneer
clearly helped him! Audience and cast members
were then able to mingle and chat while they
tucked into a delicious three-course meal at
Ognisko Polish Restaurant after the event.
Thank you very much to everyone who donated
raffle prizes and auction lots, and to those who
bid and bought raffle tickets. It really helps
increase the amount of money raised so
that more funds can be channelled towards
conservation work in Africa and Asia.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY
GEMMA PERCY
VICKY HUNT
South Africa:
This image:
Professor Steven Pinker
Thanks
The evening was a huge success, raising over
£11,500 net profit, and we would like to thank
the following people:
Professor Steven Pinker, the cast of
Hitchhiker’s, John Lloyd and James Thrift
Ed Victor Ltd and the Richard Dawkins
Foundation for Reason and Science who
sponsored the evening. The Ecologist, the RGS,
and the donors of the auction lots and raffle
prizes (especially Lord and Lady Latymer
and Malcolm Stathers)
Fiona Macleod
Events Manager
On Thursday 13 November 2008, the Porchester Hall in London will be transformed for Pecha Kucha Asia.
Join Save the Rhino and the Environmental Investigation Agency for a exquisite,
four-course, Asian-themed dinner during which you’ll be entertained by a
number of well-known speakers. Pecha Kucha, meaning chit-chat in Japanese, is
a relatively new format sweeping the arts and architecture industry. Each
speaker will talk about an Asian experience or passion, while showing 20 slides
to be presented at 20 second intervals. The result will be a very different type of
black-tie event that is fast-paced, informative and highly entertaining.
Speakers include: Louis Theroux, well known for his television
documentaries; Bamber Gascoigne, the legendary presenter of
University Challenge; and culinary explorer and chef, Valentine Warner.
Funds raised from Pecha Kucha Asia will be split between SRI
and the EIA to help a variety of Asian conservation projects.
SRI’s share will go towards the Rhino Protection Unit
programme in Indonesia that we’ve supported since 2002.
To join us for this exciting event please fill in the ticket order
form enclosed in this magazine, visit www.savetherhino.org
or call Save the Rhino HQ on 020 7357 7474.
Tickets cost £100 per person, or £1,000 for a table of ten, and
include a four-course meal and drinks throughout the evening.
15
Indonesia:
R
PUs vigorously patrol forests to destroy snares and traps and apprehend poachers. By
gathering intelligence from local communities, RPUs also proactively prevent poaching
attempts before they take place. The RPUs consistent presence and patrolling benefits
other species, such as Sumatran tigers and elephants, as well as the ecosystem as a
whole. Eight patrol units operate in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBS), one of the highest
priority areas for Sumatran megafauna. Approximately 60-85 Sumatran rhinos (the second-largest
population in the world) inhabit the Park, along with 40-50 Sumatran tigers and around 500 Asian
elephants. Five patrol units operate in Way Kambas National Park (WK), which has a resident population
of 40+ Sumatran rhinos and is also home to the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary. Each RPU patrols from
between four and seven days, with a day of rest, a day of reporting, and a day of preparation for the next
patrol. In conjunction with ten days’ leave every three months, each RPU spends at least fifteen days per
month on patrol.
A co-operative effort to save
the Sumatran rhino
The Critically Endangered Sumatran rhinoceros may be the most threatened of all land
mammals. Fewer than 275 Sumatran rhinos remain, primarily on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island,
where the population has declined at a rate of 50% over the past 20 years. Over the past five
years, however, losses of Sumatran rhino have been nearly eliminated in Indonesia through
intensive anti-poaching and intelligence activities by Rhino Protection Units (RPUs).
Being able rapidly to respond to poaching and other threats from illegal activities is essential to the
RPUs’ success. Upon discovery of poaching or other infractions, sometimes more than one RPU
must quickly rally to the site, subdue suspects, make arrests and confiscate equipment, including
guns, snares and chainsaws. Suspects are then turned over to local police along with evidence. The
RPU teams cover an area of 1,300km , in a region where public roads are few and usually unpaved.
2
Susie Ellis, Ph.D
Executive Director
International Rhino Foundation
This image:
Andalas the young male
who we hope will sire
offspring, pictured here
with Susie Ellis of the IRF
This year, SRI made possible two grants that will increase the RPUs’ effectiveness. The
BBC Wildlife Fund provided £12,520 to purchase and provide fuel and maintenance
for eleven motorbikes. A grant of £25,000 from the Rufford Maurice Laing
Foundation enabled purchase of a 4WD vehicle, plus fuel and maintenance
for one year for WK. Both of these generous awards will enhance the
effectiveness of the RPU teams, in that their ability to be more
mobile enhances patrolling and allows a more rapid response to
poaching and other illegal activities.
This image:
The motorbikes purchased
with the grant from the BBC
Wildlife Fund allow a much
faster response
CATHY DEAN
The BBC Wildlife Fund and Rufford Maurice
Laing Foundation for their wonderful grants.
Getting my hands dirty in Sumatra
As a new Trustee, I jumped at the chance to go on my first field trip and join the “Bowling
for Rhinos” group, a party of four American zookeepers touring National Parks in Indonesia.
They had won their places through their fundraising efforts for rhinos (organising ten-pin
bowling events) and were being taken around by Susie Ellis, Executive Director of the
International Rhino Foundation.
Mark Sainsbury
Trustee
MARK SA
of th e bes t
Demon s tra tion ca ca o seed lin g
a
wa y to p lan t
Ch ild ren of
a rou n d th th e Ca ca o fa rm er s li
e bo rd er
vin g
of BBS
ALL PHOT
OGRAPHY
16
INSBURY
rhin os
Ma rk wit h on e of the
S
R
S
the
in
T
However, by the next night I was feeling like the spoilt traveller that I guess I am.
The IRF (www.rhinos-irf.org) is fortunate to work in
partnership with SRI. Our open and collegial
relationship benefits the rhino conservation
programmes we are working to support, keeps our
administrative costs to a minimum and helps to
achieve maximum value. Our productive partnership
makes us stronger together than we would be
working independently.
Thanks
INTERNATIONAL RHINO FOUNDATION
he fact that the week before the rhino tour started, I happened to be on
a family holiday on Bali, an hour away from Jakarta where I met the
rest of the group, was a happy coincidence. Slightly less happy was the
contrast between the plush Balinese villa that I left behind and the state
of the hotel room in Kota Agung in southern Sumatra on the first night of the trip! It
wasn’t the stained sheets, lack of mini-bar and no air conditioning that jarred with
me; it was the dead and dying cockroaches around my bed and mice droppings in
my basin that made me miss a bit of Balinese luxury.
In the heart of WK, the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary
(SRS) is home to five rhinos that are part of an
intensively managed research and breeding
programme. At the SRS, the rhinos reside in large,
open areas where they can experience a natural
rainforest habitat, while still receiving state-of-the-art
veterinary care and nutrition. With the recent
addition of Andalas (the first Sumatran rhino born in
captivity in over 112 years) to the SRS’s population of
one male and three female Sumatran rhinos, the
SRS is well-poised to breed rhinos in the coming
years, and to contribute in a major way to our
understanding of the basic biology of this species.
The BBC Wildlife Fund also provided £7,460 to
support veterinary and laboratory equipment,
medicine and food for the SRS rhinos, thereby
helping to ensure that the animals at the Sanctuary
remain in prime health. Next year, the International
Rhino Foundation (IRF) and SRI will be working with
David Back, of horny@50, to raise more funds
for Sumatran rhinos.
I had spent the day with the heroic rangers of the Rhino Protection Units in Bukit Barisan Selatan
National Park. Sitting and talking with them, and walking together through the jungle, I got a taste
of what their everyday conditions are like. Hearing of their experiences in the forest, their armed
skirmishes with poachers, and brushes with leeches and marauding elephants, I decided to keep
my complaints from the previous night’s hotel experience to myself.
Through their holistic approach to
conservation, the RPUs have overcome the
initial wariness of some villages to win their
confidence and support; the RPUs now have
eyes and ears everywhere.
As I spent more time with them over the next few days, I realised that the job of the RPUs is not
only tough, it is amazingly varied. As well as seeking out snares, poachers and loggers on their
patrols, the RPUs collect field data, logging every tree marking, midden and footprint they find;
run workshops in villages teaching school children and villagers the value of the wildlife that
surrounds them; and gather intelligence on illegal activities and local corruption through a
network of informers and contacts.
Before my trip, I had of course read several SRI
Trustee reports on the wonderful impact of the
RPUs throughout the National Parks of
Indonesia and was familiar with the impressive
statistics describing their spectacular
successes in driving down incidents of
poaching, logging and encroachment. But
reports and stats can only tell you so much,
and now that I’ve seen the successes for
myself, I feel both humble and proud. Humble
because I still flinch at a cockroach, let alone
the sight of an armed poacher, and proud that
as a Trustee of SRI I am lucky enough to be
able to play a small part in the continued
success of the courageous RPUs.
Most of this work is only possible with the trust and goodwill of the local communities that
surround the National Parks. I was enormously impressed at how the RPUs, lead in BBS by the
wonderful Arief Rubianto, had forged positive links with these groups through their community
programme. A cornerstone of this is a very successful scheme to train local farmers. Participants
are taught about the latest appropriate agricultural practices and the use of organic fertilizers, and
are introduced to new crop varieties and grafting techniques. Farmers are told how and where to
plant their crops so as to minimise potential crop raiding and damage by mega-herbivores. The
RPUs take the damage rhinos – and for that matter elephants – can do to villages and their crops
extremely seriously, knowing the harm that can be done to local attitudes towards wildlife.
17
01
02
03
05
04
01
Longest Day 2008
British 10km
London Run
01: Competitors line up for the cross country running
02: Horse riding
03: Our happy volunteers in the registration tent
04: Teams chose their own team names!
05: Swimming
06: Even the rhino is enjoying the music!
07: SRI staff & volunteers enjoying a drink after a hard day’s work
08: Musicians entertain the guests
09: Last but not least…Adrian and Lara finish the 5km run
in rhino costume
10: Enjoying the delicious food
01: The whistle is blown and off run Mr and Mrs Rhino Cross-Wharf
02: Rhino Ben is ready to Charge
03: Rhino Fi finds time to pose in front of Big Ben
04: The happy rhinos with their medals
05: The gorillas give Rhino Georgie a helping hand
06: Celebrating at the finish
07: Rhino AD with the entertainment along the route
06
07
Thank you to everyone who has run their own marathons or
organised events in aid of SRI. Anyone can raise money for
Save the Rhino. Just e-mail events@savetherhino.org if you
need any help.
RAW AFRICA PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID POWELL
01
02
18
03
02
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
01
02
03
04
A huge thank you to George and Lucilla Stephenson for hosting such
a fantastic Longest Day at Hurdcott House. Over £40,000 was raised
for SRI and the Stars Appeal Caring for Kids campaign at Salisbury
Hospital. Special thanks to Hugh Scott-Barrett for his generous
donations, and to all those who donated and bid for auction lots
and raffle prizes.
RAW Africa 2008
Clay Pigeon Shoot
01: Light at the end of the tunnel?
02: The team look clean and happy before the start of the race
03: MMBA: Miles and Miles of Bloody Africa!
04: The team poses while out on a training run in central London
01: Nzinga drumming, while guests sip Pimms on the lawn
02: Participants have their team pep talks
before the competition begins
03: Carol Thatcher keeps the audience bidding during
the fundraising auction
04: High flyer
05: Our Trustee Tom reveals the scores
06: SRI staff & our lovely volunteers
07: Ready, steady....shoot!
Words cannot express what an achievement it was for Kenneth
Donaldson, Terry Phipps and Steve Robins to complete the race, or
for Oli Tovey and David Powell to have made such a brave attempt.
Our heartfelt thanks to the whole team, to the other runners who
gave them moral and physical support, and to all those who
sponsored them.
For anyone who would like to read Kenneth’s account of this dog’s
dinner of an event, please go to our website:
http://www.savetherhino.org/etargetsrinm/site/815/default.aspx
04
03
A big thank you to our Trustee Tom Kenyon-Slaney for helping SRI
to raise a net profit of over £25,000 from the Clay Pigeon Shoot,
to Carol Thatcher who did the auction, and to the donors of the
auction lots and raffle prizes, particularly Abercrombie and Kent.
05
06
07
19
Events:
This image:
Beer and a girl...definitely
worthwhile
This image:
Held up at the finish
Far left:
Moral support.
This image:
A crash of rhinos
Below:
Winner gets the girl...
Left:
Fresh air is a wonderful thing
GEMMA PERCY
GEMMA PERCY
Left:
Typical volunteers!
Far left:
The joy of making it to the end
UNLESS STATED ALL PHOTOGRAPHY SRI
Tony’s Top Ten Tips for Running as a Rhino
Being a regular triathlon widow, nothing Phil does
really surprises me any more, but when he announced
he was going to run the London Marathon dressed
in a two-stone rhino suit, I was rather stunned.
Anthony Forshaw was one of the intrepid team of ten who ran in the infamous
rhino suits this year. As a Royal Marine he is used to some pretty gruelling physical
conditions, but even he admitted that the suit is a whole new level of challenge.
Here are his top tips for becoming one of the chosen few…
Pam Melrose
London Marathon Widow and rhino supporter
D
uring our six-year relationship, rhinos have become very significant. Having likened
me to a charging one very early on (yes, I’m still with him), our house is now
adorned with almost 100 in various shapes and sizes. Birthdays and Christmas are
spent trying to find the most novel one you can, but a seven-foot rhino pounding
the streets just for me (and Save the Rhino!) has to take the equivalent of Olympic gold.
My next question was: How was I going to spot him when there were likely to be nine other
rhinos? I decided a nice big red bow on his back would do the trick. Not satisfied with this
however, Phil decided that a tutu and red lips were also called for.
The morning of the marathon arrived and both of our stress levels sky rocketed. Once the full
rhino “crash” was fully kitted up, it was obvious my plan of decorating Phil’s suit had paid off. He
was the only lady rhino and would stand out like a sore thumb.
As all the rhinos headed off towards the start, I fought back tears of pride and headed towards
my first of four vantage points. Every time Phil passed me I shouted and waved frantically, but
forgot that once you’re inside your suit you can hear virtually nothing.
GEMMA PERCY
Charge of the tutu
his medal, filtered through the finish line and
we met up, he said he was convinced that I’d
not waited and left as he’d taken so long. Now
why on earth would I not wait around when
someone has put themselves through such a
feat for me and endangered rhinos? Well
done Mrs Phil and all the other rhinos.
1
Do some training.
2
Don’t take a holiday just beforehand. Even if you think
you are fit enough, you aren’t.
3
Going out the night before is an error.
4
Remember to pack your running kit. Even though you are
in a suit, you need kit on underneath, or you will regret it!
5
So what’s next for the rhino-mad couple? Well,
we’re getting married next July at Woburn
Abbey, which is right next to Woburn Safari
Park. Phil has some grand idea about having a
picture of me in my wedding dress mucking
out the rhino. Unfortunately, following his
achievement, I can’t see how I can refuse. I’m
sure the dry cleaners will be thrilled!
6
This image:
Piece of cake
Remember to register for photos beforehand on the website.
There will be hundreds of you.
You are likely to have cramp for half the marathon from the
strange running position. You need to know to deal with
this, or you could injure yourself.
7
Ensure you get a massage at the end, so you can walk the next day.
8
Lube up your forearms: that thing chafes!
9
Don’t even try to attempt to get into a portaloo along the course. Getting in is easy, getting out isn’t.
10
Don’t pick suit number ten because it’s mine in 2009!
Some 5 hours 39 minutes after he started, Phil came round the corner past the Palace, much to
my relief, and – looking at the bandages around his knees – much to his too. Once he’d collected
Sign up now for the 2009 Flora London Marathon!
At the time of going to press, we still have about 30 places left for next year’s race,
which will take place on Sunday 26 April. Three costumes have been allocated but we still
have another six left if you want to emulate Phil’s efforts… Otherwise we can provide you
with a very fetching blue T-shirt and all the advice and support you’ll need to help you
have one of the best days of your life. Go on, you know you want to…
20
This image:
It’s a hard life
21
KDAR
Moving rhinos
to Manas
RA
ALL PHOTOG
B KU
PHY BIBHA
MAR TALU
India:
Top and bottom:
The rhino is crated up ready
for its translocation to manas
The conservation of the Greater one-horned (Goh)
rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) is regarded as the epitome
of the conservation movement in Assam. Assam is
also regarded as the last stronghold of the Goh rhino,
with over 2,000 animals in wild populations: 1,855 in
Kaziranga National Park, 68 in Orang National Park
and 81 in Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
Bibhab Kumar Talukdar
Co-chair
Secretary General
IUCN / SSC Asian Rhino
Aaranyak
Specialist Group W
Manas National Park was regarded as a key location for IRV2020, and a political solution was
achieved by giving autonomy and support to local people through the form of Bodoland Territorial
District Council, in order to restore Manas to its former glory, including the upgrading of its current
status as “World Heritage Site in Danger” to full-fledged World Heritage Site.
One of the first jobs for the Rhino Task Force was to commission a series of habitat and security
assessments; as well as to plan a series of phased translocations of about 40 rhinos. The agreed
methodology was to start with four mature rhinos, aged 6-10, from Pabitora Widlife Sanctuary,
comprising two males and two females, and to take them to Manas National Park. Rhino
monitoring activities in Pabitora carried out by WWF-India and the Forest Department would
identify suitable rhinos.
This first translocation from Pabitora was scheduled for 11-14 February 2008. However, due to
the non-availability of tranquilising drugs, the date had to be put back. On 8 April a meeting
of the Translocation Core Committee (TCC) on 8 April, it was announced that the necessary
drugs required for tranquilisation has been procured from Singapore. Just three days later,
the translocation was underway.
The operation started at 05:30hrs, when a group of veterinarians went off on elephant back to
find and tranquilise the rhinos. By 09:00hrs, three of the four intended rhinos had been spotted
and surrounded by the elephants, but all three of them managed to break through the elephant
cordon before they could be darted. At 09:30 the capture team managed to tranquilise one male
rhino, fix a radio collar, and provide veterinary aid, before loading it into a crate and then into a
waiting truck. The day was becoming hotter, with the mercury touching more than 35˚C. By the
time this first rhino was successfully crated up and driven to a shady spot, it was almost noon.
22
When the convoy arrived at Manas, the trucks
were driven up to ramps in the release site
and the door of the first crate opened.
Unwilling to move, the first rhino took 45
minutes to emerge, but the second lost no time.
By 08:00hrs both rhinos had been released
into the wilderness of Manas National Park,
where about 80 rhinos had once roamed.
Both are being monitored daily using radio
telemetry equipment.
Asian Rhino Coordinator
International Rhino Foundation
hile success was achieved in these three protected areas, loss and subsequent
extermination of rhino by poachers were witnessed in Laokhowa Wildlife
Sanctuary during the social unrest in early 1980s and in Manas National Park in
the 1990s. Fortunately, these two areas remained under the control of the Assam
Forest Department. In 2005, on the occasion of the 100th birthday celebrations of Kaziranga
National Park, a plan was conceived by the Forest Department of Assam, the International Rhino
Foundation and WWF-India to aim for a target of 3,000 rhinos living in seven Protected Areas by the
year 2020: Indian Rhino Vision 2020. A Rhino Task Force was convened in June 2005 to incorporate
international and local NGOs and government agencies, to bring IRV2020 to fruition.
As they drove, the vehicles kept in touch with
each other through walkie-talkies. The police
provided an escort vehicle with flashing lights
to lead the way, and traffic in the cities and
towns along the route were stopped to make
way for the convoy to pass by. The 240km
from Pabitora to Manas took over 12 hours;
the vehicles drove slowly in the interest of
the rhinos’ comfort and safety.
The capture team then turned to the second
rhino, darting and loading it by 14:00hrs. By now
the heat was almost intolerable, not only for the
rhinos, but also for the capture team. The TCC
therefore decided to suspend the operation
for the day, and to transport these first two
rhinos (both male) to Manas National Park
that same evening.
At 18:00hrs a convoy of vehicles started
moving. As soon as the convoy reached the
Sanctuary’s exit gate, it was greeted by a huge
number of local people, who had gathered to
catch a glimpse of “their” rhinos. People
cheered as the procession passed by. The
veterinary team monitored the rhinos every
half-hour, pouring water over them periodically
to help keep them cool.
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The success of this first phase of the
translocation strategy has definitely
strengthened the moral of all the people
associated with the process, whether directly
or indirectly. It does give a hope and self belief
that yes, it can be done. As long as forest land
is in safe custody and not being encroached
upon, the Forest Department and NGOs,
together with the active support of the local
community, can bring back the lost glory to
Manas. This is just a first stepping stone: a
further 18 are due to be translocated in
December 2008, to boost the rhino population
to a viable number so that it can be selfsustaining in years to come. Hopefully, Manas is
showing the way for other suitable rhino habitat
sites such as Laokhowa and Burachapori to be
prepared for future rhino translocations. As
always, we will need the active cooperation of
the local people to make this happen.
Top and bottom:
The first rhino is released
from the crate
Events:
Climbing Kili for rhinos
Three months ago I had no idea how critically endangered
rhinos are, or why, or what people are doing to save them.
I did, however, have a plan to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest
mountain in Africa, with a bunch of friends.
Oliver Wilcox
Supporter
That’s when a family friend, Robin Cooke-Hurle, stepped in, and persuaded me to raise
money for the Selous Rhino Trust in Tanzania through SRI. Having visited the Selous
himself, and seen the work of the Trust, Robin is indefatigable in his efforts to help
the Reserve’s rhinos.
Arriving in Nairobi, I stayed with Kes and Fraser who spent a lot of time explaining all the
issues to me. I visited National Parks and saw how much security was needed for the rhinos
because of their rarity and the poaching threat. Having seen both black and white rhinos,
I know that they are magnificent creatures and it would be a disaster if there were none
left in the wild.
I approached Kili via the Rongai route, which gave us four easy days to start with. On the
fifth day we left Kibo Hut at midnight to begin our ascent. It was very difficult and I really
doubted that I was going to make it to the top. Just two hours after we had set off, I was
suffering from a huge headache and sickness. All around me, other climbers were
abandoning their attempt and descending. It was horrible seeing others go down and
I worried that I might be the next to succumb. I honestly believe that without the thought
of all those people who believed in me and had supported me to reach the top, I would
have turned round.
Oliver triumphantly reaches Uhuru Peak,
the highest point in Africa!
Once we reached the edge of the crater, at
Gilman’s Point, we could actually see Uhuru
peak for the first time that day. I cracked
on as fast as I could (not least because I
wanted to get off the mountain!). Reaching
the summit at 08:00 was fantastic and a
huge relief. All around was cloud, except
Kili itself, which floated about it all.
I would like to thank Robin, Kes, Fraser,
John Corse, and Cathy and Lucy at SRI
for all their support in the planning and
logistics. But most of all I would like to
thank my father, who took the fundraising
under his wing and raised as much as he
could through friends and work colleagues.
As for me, well, I was doing what I enjoy!
Thanks
We would like to thank Oliver for taking
on this massive challenge, and to his
supporters who have so far raised an
equally massive £8,600 and counting.
23
ACTION PHOTO
Events:
Comrades, rhinos,
marathon men…
African Rhino
Specialists at work
In a fit of January madness (must be something
to do with turning 50!), I decided to see if I
could train up enough to complete the 86.9km
(54 miles) 2008 Comrades Marathon between
Durban and Pietermaritzburg.
The 2008 AfRSG meeting was held at Lake Manyara
National Park in Tanzania in May. Unlike the previous
meeting in Swaziland, I wasn’t “dry” while training for
an ultra-marathon, and those all-important conversations
over a beer were – I’d venture to say – just as productive
as the rest of the 6-day conference.
Richard Emslie
Scientific Officer
IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group
Cathy Dean
Director
I am part-time Scientific Officer for
IUCN’s African Rhino Specialist Group
(AfRSG) and have worked on rhino
conservation in Africa since 1980.
SRI is one of a group of conservation
organisations that helps support my
AfRSG rhino conservation work. It
therefore seemed to be a natural
progression for me to try to raise
some funds for SRI while doing the
Comrades Marathon.
The race went to plan initially, and
at half way (44km) I was less than two
minutes over my 10hr-45min race plan.
However, I hit “the wall” at around 52km
and despite taking magnesium pills,
rehydrate and lots of energade, water
Thanks
A huge thanks goes out to Richard for
completing such an amazing challenge
and raising in the region of £1,900. We
have decided to grant out the money
(less the Gift Aid) to support the work
of the AfRSG and consider it money
well-earned!
As always, there was a tasty agenda, with
reports from each range state on their rhino
populations, poaching pressures, prosecutions,
horn stockpiles and management plans. The
great news from the conference was that black
rhino numbers are up from 3,725 (31 Dec
2005) to 4,180 (31 Dec 2007); while white
rhino numbers have shot up from 14,540 to
17,480 over the same period. Those are
increases of roughly 6% and 9.7% year-onyear respectively; the target annual growth
rate is 5%.
Richard looking pretty good
(must be near the start!)
Of the 11,140 that entered,
only 8,612 finished before
the cut-off of 12 hours.
and coke, I got intermittent cramps
from 54km onwards for the next 33km.
The enforced gap in training of fifteen
days due to illness in Tanzania so close
to the race probably didn’t help. While I
didn’t manage to make it in under eleven
hours as I’d hoped, I am still chuffed I
managed to make it in time (11hr 38min)
to get a medal. By the end my legs were
shot and I could only walk / trot slowly
like an 85-year old. It certainly was one
of the toughest things I have ever done
in my life. As soonas I got home I had a
bath, climbed into bed and slept for ten
and a half hours (interspersed with
waking up with cramp).
This year was especially tough due
to unusually hot winter temperatures
(27-29°C). The reflected heat for runners
on the road was reported to be as high
as 32-36°C! People dropped out like flies
with many dehydrated, vomiting or
cramping up. Of the 11,140 that entered,
only 8,612 finished before the cut-off
of 12 hours. I consoled myself that I
was doing a lot better than the many
casualties I was passing strewn by the
roadside and in medical tents (including
two on oxygen, flat out on camp beds).
In my category (males 50-59 years old),
of the 1,307 that started the race, 301
didn’t make it. Of those that finished,
407 were treated in the medical tent
with eight of these ending up in hospital.
It is not known how many were treated
en route.
(These figures are announced at the very end
of each biennial meeting. As the week goes on,
an expectant buzz begins: How do you think
we’re doing? We talk about “The Numbers”,
like the confused survivors of Lost.)
It really was an amazing atmosphere
and the crowd support along the way
was great and certainly it was a day I will
always remember. I also won the Hilton
Harriers club award for their runner who
had to dig deepest on the day based on
estimated energy expenditure given
body mass, age and time. The trophy
was a wooden plinth with what looks
like a Christmas-pudding-sized lump
of mud with a trowel stuck in it!
A big thank you to all who sponsored me
this year. Next year is a “down” run and I
am going to try to get my bronze medal
(under eleven hours). If you are up for
the challenge why not try Comrades for
yourself and raise some funds for SRI
while you are at it?
This fantastic success was somewhat missing
in the press coverage that followed, which
focused on the virtual extinction of the
Northern white rhino in Garamba; just as, two
years ago, the news was about the presumed
extinction of the Western subspecies of black
rhino in Cameroon. I do feel it was a pity that
all the amazing work done by so many of the
people at the meeting was glossed over, in the
search for a shock-tactic headline.
One of the hottest potatoes was the discussion
of the emerging misuse of white rhino trophy
hunting permits in South Africa. As has been
widely reported, the illicit trade is apparently
linked to organised criminal syndicates and,
according to one article, has seen hundreds of
horns smuggled out of South Africa in recent
years. The racket allegedly involves private
game farms in Limpopo and the North West,
which buy rhinos on auction, usually from
national or provincial parks. They acquire
hunting permits from provincial conservation
authorities, who do not then check whether
the hunts actually occur. Sometimes there is
no hunt and the permits are used to launder
illegally obtained horn; in other instances the
hunt serves as a smokescreen to send horn
overseas that would otherwise be banned in
terms of the international ban on horn trade
under the Convention for International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES). Solving this
problem is important, as the sustainable and
properly controlled trophy hunting of white
rhinos – creating an economic incentive to
encourage people to give over land to rhinos
and other wildlife – has been a major factor
in the growth of white rhino numbers.
Another economic incentive was discussed in
Jacques Flamand’s presentation on the Black
Rhino Range Expansion Project. This involves
identifying new areas of land within the rhino
range, translocating founder populations of
rhinos, and custodianship agreements
between KZN Wildlife and the landowners.
KZN retains ownership of the founder
population, and half of the offspring, while the
landowners gain ownership – and the right to
sell in future – the other half of the calves
born. It’s in everyone’s interest, therefore, to
ensure that the rhinos are protected and the
habitat restored and maintained, so that
optimum breeding conditions are achieved.
One of the highlights of the meeting was,
inevitably, the field trip to Ngorongoro Crater
on Day 4. As we dropped down into the Crater,
the clouds lifted, and we had stunning views
across the floor. Spotters on the rim directed
us to two pairs of mother and calf, and a
female rhino (cow) so massive around the neck
that she had everyone convinced she was a
bull, until she turned round and presented her
tail, allowing us to reassign her gender.
(There was quite a lot of teasing of our
most experienced field experts.)
The next meeting will be in 2010, probably
in South Africa. We lobbied for it to be held
during the World Cup, but there’s a rather
more important need not to clash with the
rhino ops season in March-June, so that
key people can attend. I’ve been asked to
facilitate a workshop on the importance
of environmental education programmes
for rhino conservation and, to be honest,
I can’t wait…
Main image:
This enormous female
confused even the most
experienced field guys
Left:
Some of the specialists
enjoy a Tusker at the Lake
Manyara Serena Lodge
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY CATHY DEAN
I
t has a justified reputation as a
very tough and challenging race
and sadly two runners died last
year. Apart from being more than
two standard marathons long, the course
is hilly and on this year’s “up” run, the
cumulative climb was around 3,100m
with a further 2,500m of decent.
24
Tanzania:
25
Tanzania:
RENAUD FULCONIS
Fraser – “We were on a rhino patrol at the time and
I sensed a growing excitement amongst the rangers
as we approached the crest of a hill. Sadly it was not
a rhino they anticipated, but rather, word had it that
the new phone tower was to be operational. They
moved forward, glued to their phones, hoping for
reception as they cleared the hill....”
Mobile phone network had reached the vast
wilderness of Selous!
Communicating bush style
Look who’s talking
Crackle crackle crackle; “Can you repeat. Over.”
“No, I’m not a rhinestone cowboy calling from the USA!
I asked you how the rhinos are doing today. DO YOU
READ? Over.” Crackle crackle, buzz, buzz.
A
nd so it has been since radiowaves were discovered: the
ubiquitous talking-louder-thanyou-want-to, frustrated half-shout
into a VHF radio, that is bush communication.
For many of us, the hiss of the radio handset
conjures up the romance of remote wild
places; a tremendous sense that you are alone,
doing something important, a million miles
away from traffic and technology and the
modern world.
In 1984 we were working in Garamba National
Park, Congo, protecting Northern white rhino,
with support from SRI and others. Radio was
our only means of communication. During that
time, someone once made the mistake of
testing the modern world, and sent an urgent
package by DHL to our nearest town (only a
day or two’s drive away). It took 3 months! In
the 1990s, satellite phones were introduced.
They were the size of a substantial piece of
luggage, with all the frustrations of trying to
work out where on earth in the big African sky
to point the dish to get some reception. Oh,
and the cost!
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY FRASER SMITH
But, here in 2008, gone are the days when the
reason for not answering something
immediately really was that the pigeon hadn’t
arrived yet, or the radio was on the blink.
Mobile phone coverage is spreading like soft
26
SRT
butter into the wilds. You can now discuss
what’s happening on the Footsie 100 (as if
we want to!) from under a tree in the Selous
wilderness, and for those places that are
remoter than remote, satellite phones are
now pocket-sized, and have SMS facilities.
These changes have taken some getting
used to by some of us conservationists.
But the benefits most certainly outweigh
the negatives.
Communication is essential for our rhino
conservation work in the Selous, for planning
and coordinating activities, getting help or
spares when things break down, and for
reporting and generating rapid reactions to
illegal activities, such as poaching. And
although the VHF radio is still used much of
the time and is the cheapest option, it does
have its limitations.
So we are now looking at ways to use better
technology to increase our response times,
have more reliable and flexible connections,
and improve safety. For example, we are now
using mobile phones with SMS to improve
communication between rangers in the field
and the base station at Kidai. Fraser, the
project’s Technical Advisor, connects a small
Thuraya satellite phone to a laptop computer
for email in the Selous; unfortunately, it’s an
old temperamental and fragile laptop, and
the project urgently needs another one.
At times when radio telemetry is justified,
there is even communication with one’s subject
animals. In many cases using transmitters is
very useful, especially if the animals are wide
ranging, very cryptic in behaviour, or need
better protection, as do the Selous’ precious
rhinos. Mobile phones are making a significant
contribution to modern day animal transmitter
tagging, and are now being tied in with mobile
phone company sponsorship. With mobile
phone coverage in the Selous becoming more
widespread and cheaper every day, this
technique could be incredibly useful to help
us learn more about population dynamics,
movements, and how to fine-tune our rhino
conservation efforts.
So, in the Selous, we’re fast moving into the
21st Century! What we now need is more
satellite phones, improved hardware for
internet and faster email connections, and
more mobile phone handsets and base station
radios. Satellite or mobile phone sponsorship
could also be a great conservation
contribution, if we consider a transmitter
programme in the future.
Grant
Since April 2008, we have sent over £9,000
to the Selous Rhino Trust, made up of £5,000
from SRI’s own core funds, together with
further donations from Robin and Patrizia
Cooke-Hurle, the Garrett and Mary Moran
Family Foundation. Sir Matthew Goodwin’s
Charitable Trust, Dr The Hon A. and Mrs P.
Todd, and the Townsend Family Foundation.
We are about to send a similar amount again,
made up of donations from Chatham/Worth
Specialties, Chris Barlow and Cazenove+Loyd,
and the sponsorship raised by Oliver Wilcox.
These funds will go towards the salaries of Kes
and Fraser Smith, one of the hardest aspects
for which to fundraise. Our grateful thanks to
everyone involved. Just in! Thank you Chester
Zoo, which has awarded £8000 to Selous
Rhino Trust.
DAVE ROBERSTON
At Save the Rhino we strive to encourage and enable
communication not just between ourselves and the field
projects we support, but also between other conservation
organisations. Our strap line “Connecting conservation and
communities” speaks for itself. Even our magazine is a vital
tool for explaining how all those valued donations, fundraising
events and grants benefit in situ conservation projects we
support. We have talked in this issue about the different forms
of communication in rhino conservation, but I particularly
wanted to explore how rhinos communicate with one another.
THIS AND ABOVE IMAGE: STEVE AND ANN TOON
Dr Kes Smith
Scientific Advisor, Selous Rhino Trust
Lucy Boddam-Whetham
Office and Communications Manager
R
hinos are not renowned for their social interactions but on reading Anna Merz’s
book, Rhino, at the brink of extinction I soon realised that rhinos have quite a
complex communication system, using body language, many different vocalisations,
and urine and droppings to communicate danger, location and to try to settle
territorial or other disputes. They also use a highly complicated method of regulated breathing
to converse with one another.
Rhinos can be extremely vocal and have even been known to growl like a lion or trumpet like an
elephant during a fight! A puffing snort or grunt is a common greeting, but they can also snort in
anger and a shorter snort, coupled with an upright tail, is believed to mean alarm. This can lead on to
a high-pitched “wonk” sound which communicates fear or even a high-pitched scream. Calves
regularly make this wonk noise and will often squeal when seeking protection. It has also been
witnessed that when a calf is threatened by a predator, the adult rhino will usually circle around the
calf to protect it. Probably the most common rhino sound is a squeaking noise, believed to represent
curiosity or slight alarm depending on the pitch. Calves make a higher pitched squeak when they
lose their mother’s scent. Contentment is thought to be expressed by a deep, resonant rumbling
“mmwonk” sound. But perhaps the most intriguing communication trait of rhinos is that of the
regulated breathing. Different breathing speeds can be used to communicate greetings, anxiety and,
in turn, reassurance. It has also been suggested that rhinos produce infrasound signals.
In addition to vocalisations; body language is a large part of their communications repertoire.
Touching or rubbing against each other is a friendly behaviour and can cement bonds; the young
may also fling their heads in an invitation to play. Adults flatten their ears as a warning, which can
lead into a full charge. As well as horn prodding; dominant black rhino males greet each other by
repeatedly locking horns. The most frequent signals are based on scent. Urine spraying is very
common, as is the use of dung as an information centre as to who is in the area. Females also use
urine and droppings to indicate when they are in season.
The type and level of communications differs
between the five species. The white rhino is
most commonly found in small herds, but the
black rhino and Greater one-horned rhino can
also be found in social groups. Communication
can also depend on the type of habitat the
rhinos live in. Studies have shown that the
Sumatran rhino is one of the more vocal
species, perhaps due to the thick rainforest
they inhabit. They have been recorded making
distinct “eeps”, “whales” and “whistleblows.”
Although the purposes of these sounds have
not yet been clarified, they are most likely to
convey danger warnings and location.
Sumatran rhinos have also been seen twisting
saplings that they do not eat, and it is believed
that this might indicate a junction in a trail
to other rhinos.
Through these observations, it is clear that
rhinos have highly complex social behaviours.
If anything, it reinforces the need to
communicate the plight of the rhino,
but maybe by using English, Swahili and
Indonesian, leaving the squeaks, grunts
and snorts to the rhinos!
27
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY CATHY DEAN
Tanzania:
Ambassadors for
conservation
Everyone’s a critic! That’s nowhere more of a truism
than when leveled at people working to protect the
worlds’ natural resources, places of great beauty,
or the wild animals that we share this planet with…
Lucy and Tony Fitzjohn
George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust
G
ood management, law and
order, boundaries and fighting
against the spin of the “multi
purpose land use” advocates
seem to enrage a vast section of the world
determined to exploit what is left or let it go
through sheer lack of interest and neglect. We
always seem to have more issues to address
than the Chairman of BP.
Sharing the wonders of Nature and promoting
the raison d’être for wilderness and unspoilt, if
changing, areas might even seem an
impossible task within the so-called ‘Third
World,’ where the demand for land, consumer
toys that we take for granted and all the
goodies that exist there – grazing, water,
mineral rights, timber, the list is endless …
But it’s not. We somehow feel that these places
are our spiritual bridges to the past. To bring in
local people who have never seen totally wild
areas or wild animals before, and to hear them
gasping “Mungu, Mungu” (God, God) at the
expanse and wonder of it all, puts us all on the
same page. The job of crossing the modern
day bridges of communications becomes so
much easier.
Third left:
The rangers in their uniforms
provide great role models for
the pupils
With the right people.
The Government schools do a pretty good job
these days. Children have to go to school, they
wear uniforms from an early age, and they
don’t really want to head into the bush with
their fathers to go poaching. They are destined
for the towns and cities and decision-making
areas in their countries. We must simply
(though it’s not that simple) be the best
ambassadors possible what we do, articulating
the aesthetics, economics and demographics
of it all. The children will do the rest.
I wouldn’t know where to start. I’m too oldschool and entrenched [Editor’s note: this bit
is written by Fitz!]. But we do have Elisaria
Nnko and Semu Pallangyo who serve as our
education officers, and thank God for them.
The different groups of children coming in
have never had a day like it when they come
to Mkomazi.
First the “Rafiki wa Faru” bus picks them up at
either Same or Kisiwani. They are then given a
brief introduction on the work that we have
The saying “Communication is everything” applies to most
things in life; it could not be truer when it comes to rhino
conservation. Tracing all that is involved in this field to
keep a rhino alive in the Chyulus, takes us from high tech
cyberspace to the low churring alarm call of a tick bird.
Top:
More cameras mean that the
Chyulus can build up its pictorial
ID library
done in Mkomazi. But only for a few minutes! Then into the bus they go and after an hour’s drive
through the wilderness, looking at different types of trees, birds and wildlife, they arrive at the
camp. They have a look at the wild dogs, the workshops and water-catchment projects, and then
head off to the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary. They meet the rhino guards, see the infrastructure and
walk up a small hill into the education centre. Then they have a short lesson, see a 10-minute DVD,
have lunch, engage in a classroom activity and then meet more rhino trackers. Then they head off
to the Observation Bunker and (fingers crossed) see a rhino. At the end of the day, they are driven
back to the starting point and they go home.
We are in the first stages of this programme, and this is the ‘pilot’ year. We have some wonderful
schemes, activities and educational experiences coming up and all of these have been planned
and put into effect by Maggie Esson of Chester Zoo, Cathy Dean of SRI and Charlie Mayhew of
Tusk. Their advice has been solid and practical. Maggie has unobtrusively given Elisaria and
Semu support, ideas and encouragement on teaching methods and how to hold the attention
of youngsters very much in awe of their surroundings. As well as Elisaria (who is also our
Operations Manager) and Semu (our Rhino Sanctuary Manager), the children have the
opportunity to talk to the rhino security guards and trackers, ask questions and look at their
radios, binoculars and uniforms.
Chester Zoo is providing resin models, footprints, posters, logos and maybe even a life-size model of a
black rhino for those murky days when there is no chance of seeing a rhino in the wild. Save the
Rhino has also sent many prizes, rhino-themed stationery and educational materials. Tusk has sent
an invaluable book on the environment by PACE, which we are hoping to get translated into Swahili
(the main language of Tanzania). Between Chester Zoo, SRI, Tusk and GAWPT, the environmental
education programme is shouldered and propelled forwards. Together we planned this programme
from inception, bought a wonderful bus, built an education centre and now manage it.
We have ju
st heard th
USFWS is
at
and Amné giving US $50,000
ville Zoo is
giving 10,0
euros tow
00
ards the co
st of drillin
borehole in
ga
the Chyul
us
mean that
the rhinos , which would
no longer
come out
need to
of the Par
k to access
supply of
a regular
water. We
still need
a significa
to raise
nt am
this projec ount to complete
t. If you w
ould like
to help, pl
ease cont
act:
petra@save
therhino.o
rg
Richard Bonham
Chyulu Hills rhino project
PHOTOGRAPHY MAASAILAND PRESERVATION TRUST
Bottom:
The game scouts show
off a haul of confiscated weapons
28
Left:
Saria dispels the children’s
negative perceptions about
wild dogs
Right:
Semu Pallangyo tries to put on a
stern face at the entrance to the
rhino sanctuary
For your ears only…
Kenya:
Second left:
Time to visit the bunker, in the
hope of seeing a rhino
Above:
Pupils on the second school visit saw
an amazing variety of animals on their
way through the Park
L
et us start with cyberspace. Usually, this begins with an email from the Save
the Rhino office in London, with another very patient reminder for an overdue
report, a spreadsheet for the ranger patrol running costs and budgets, or plans
for the next fundraiser and so on. Thankfully SRI has come to terms with this
situation and accept that the skills involved in this form of communication are not one of
our team’s strong points, and relieve us of the mind-boggling though critical link with
keeping the funds and information flowing.
In the field, communications get more interesting. The backbone is the good old battered
handheld radio attached to the game scout’s belt. This is the lifeline that calls in for
anything from a re-supply of rations,
reports of a rhino sighting, or for
reinforcements and support from the
tracker dog unit to follow up on poacher
tracks. From here on, things get even more
interesting, as you have to communicate
without being heard, be it by a rhino or
a poacher. Technology now takes a back
seat and bushcraft takes over.
Watching a trained ranger unit moving
through the bush, following a rhino track
or poacher, is akin to a well-rehearsed
silent ballet. Each step is controlled and
careful, voices are replaced by the clicking
of fingers or a low tongue click; hand
signals indicate stop, go left, right, back,
lie down or freeze. Sometimes, when
really close in, even hand signals are a
give away and direction is indicated by
pouted lips or a cocked eyebrow… even
a whisper in these situations can result
in a rhino erupting out of a bush or the
panicked flight of a poacher.
Rhino themselves have their own intricate
communication skills that need to be
interpreted. Their dung middens are post
boxes, scattered around the bush, letting
each other know where they are and who
they are. Sometimes they serve as a
warning to keep others out of their
territory and at other times, it is an
advertisement of a lonely heart searching
Communications can only be done effectively
by people who really believe in what they are
talking about. Elisaria and Semu both love
what they do and believe vehemently in it –
and this gets across to the children. If, after
each trip, one or maybe two children look at
where they have just been when they are
leaving and say “I want to be like them one
day”, then their job, and our job, is done and
we can rest a little easier at night.
Thanks
Save the Rhino would like to congratulate
Tony and Lucy, and Elisaria and Semu on
the fantastic launch of Rafiki wa Faru; and
to thank Maggie Esson in particular for her
tremendous input into devising, structuring
and delivering the programme. This has
been a truly cooperative effort and we are
proud to be involved.
for mate. A squirt of urine on the trail is the
equivalent of Chanel No. 5 in rhino lingo and
will help bring suitors at the gallop.
Tick birds are a great example of a symbiotic
relationship and understanding the
importance of low tech communication skills.
They feed on the parasitic ticks and in return
give warning of impending danger and have
saved many a rhino from a poacher. Their
warnings have also saved many a game scout
from becoming kebabed on a rhino horn.
Grant
We would like to thank Amnéville Zoo in
France, and the Rufford Maurice Laing
Foundation very much indeed for their grants
of 5,000 euros and £5,000 respectively,
towards the salary of Richard Kech, who has
been billeted to the KWS ranger team in the
Chyulu Hills National Park. Kech brings years
of experience to this supporting role, and is
an invaluable member of the team.
29
Kenya:
The role of intelligence
in rhino security
Nevertheless, in spite of these threats,
APLRS areas have continued to play a
significant role in rhino conservation in
Kenya. 46% and 69% of black and white
rhinos respectively are currently found on
private land. This has been achieved over
time through individual and collaborative
institutionalisation of several countermeasures that fortunately were boosted by
the grant from the EAZA Rhino Campaign.
Top:
Lewa security and tracker dogs
Middle:
Lewa white rhinos
Bottom:
Lewa black rhinos
In April 2007, the EAZA Rhino Campaign awarded a
grant of 15,000 euros to the APLRS for its Rhino
Security and Intelligence Claim Scheme. This will allow
the APLRS to publicise the Scheme more widely,
providing funding for five years or more.
Sustainable living
Since receiving the grant, considerable intelligence information has been gathered by credible
informer networks and respective sanctuaries management, pointing to elaborate poaching
plans by organised gangs targeting specific APLRS areas.
The general poaching threat was exacerbated by tension that gripped the entire country in the
run-up to, and immediately after, the general election of December 2007. There was a lot of
movement of firearms in the open by pastoralist communities that led to a number of bloody and
fatal inter-tribal attacks among the warring communities. Unfortunately, most of the APLRS
areas are located in the pastoralist strongholds and near to towns known to be transit routes for
illegal horns and ivory. During this period, APLRS personnel had no alternative but to increase
their patrol routines to secure their respective areas as well as intensify informer networks.
At the beginning of 2008, a new wave of rhino poaching incidences was witnessed; one black
rhino was shot at night and horns removed in one member area. In February heightened
intelligence gathering was instituted in collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). As
a result of this intelligence network, combined with several covert manoeuvres, in March, four
suspects believed to have been the culprits of the February poaching were arrested. They were
later released on bail pending further investigation, in accordance with Kenyan law.
At the height of the post-election violence in March 2008, increased informer networks led to a
night ambush resulting to the arrest of one poacher inside the fenceline of one member area.
The second poacher managed to escape. The men had poisoned arrows, a pot of potent poison
and six steel cable snares. Information gathered from the arrested poacher indicated that the
poaching gang was the same as that targeting the Laikipia rhino sanctuaries, connected to one
dealer who has for long been linked to poaching incidences in the region. This particular dealer
had promised to pay each poacher a whopping KSh 200,000 (£1,600) for every horn delivered
to him. If such information is true, then it explains the levels of risk that poachers go to, in
order to poach rhinos in some of the most heavily guarded rhino sanctuaries in the country.
Other than the above few incidents, a lot of other intelligence information were gathered in the
one year of this project all indicating the vulnerability of rhinos in the entire country.
30
Save the Rhino’s aims are: to increase numbers of
critically endangered rhinos; to enhance the integrity
of ecosystems; and to ensure that local communities
benefit from conservation activities in key rhino areas.
The latter means that we are increasingly involved in
people-based projects that focus on sustainable living
and on initiatives that generate income to local people
from nature-based activities.
PETRA FLEISCHER
T
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY EDWIN KISIO
Geoffrey Chege
Chairman
Association of Private Land Rhino Sanctuaries (APLRS), Kenya
he aim of the Scheme is to enhance the security and monitoring of rhinos in
Kenya’s private rhino sanctuaries by increasing the motivation and morale of
security personnel through cash incentives. This is backed up by informer
information that leads to arrests and the recovery of firearms and illegal equipment
used to poach rhino. All APLRS members are located in security risk and banditry-prone areas, and
hence they employ additional security personnel for extra vigilance, in order to offer maximum
security and monitoring of black and white rhinos, to prevent poaching for their horn.
Above:
Lewa security monitoring rhinos
This particular dealer had
promised to pay each
poacher a whopping KSh
200,000 (£1,600) for every
horn delivered…
Very recent information from proven
informers shows that value of horn and
ivory has increased dramatically. This has
been indirectly linked to a company from
the Far East that is currently constructing
the highway from Isiolo to Marsabit, which
may be creating a link in the chain from
poacher to end user. To counter this, the
informer network system has been
extensively expanded, and the APLRS has
been forced to revise upwards the value
of intelligence claim payouts.
Above:
Cultural Manyatta
Petra Fleischer
Fundraising Manager
T
his ecosystem approach ensures that the benefits people obtain from ecosystems
are taken into consideration when managing an area of high biodiversity and
natural resources such as the key rhino areas Save the Rhino is active in. Reflecting
the close link between conservation and poverty alleviation, we are expanding our
work by funding people-based projects, and at the same time widening our potential donor base.
This year we successfully secured a grant from the Body Shop Foundation’s Europe, Middle
East and Africa grant programme for the Community Conservation programme run by the
Laikipia Wildlife Forum in Kenya. The Foundation supports projects focusing on sustainable
development and their grant enables the five Community Conservation Officers at the LWF
to increase the community development and conservation impact at grass-root level. They
travel long distances on motorbikes in order to communicate with communities and self-help
groups initiate project focusing on sustainable living methods. We are delighted to welcome
the Body Shop Foundation on board!
Talking of sustainable living, there is something you can do to reduce your carbon foot-print
whilst helping Save the Rhino. Switch your energy provider to Ecotricity, Save the Rhino’s
long-term supporters.
Ecotricity is an electricity company with a difference. As green energy pioneers, Ecotricity
is dedicated to building new sources of renewable energy to fight climate change. Switching
is easy and it’s one of the biggest single steps you can take to reduce your emissions and
protect the environment.
They take the money their customers spend
on electricity and invest it in clean forms of
power like wind energy. Ecotricity invests
more per customer in building new sources of
renewable energy than any other UK supplier.
In fact over the last four years, for every £1 a
customer has spent on their bill, Ecotricity has
invested £1 in building new wind turbines.
Save the Rhino has teamed up with Ecotricity
to get supporters to switch to a genuinely
green supplier, and also to raise funds for our
own work. For every supporter that switches,
Ecotricity will donate £15 to Save the Rhino.
They’ll also match the standard price of your
regional supplier with their New Energy
tariff so you don’t have to pay a premium
for switching.
To sign up in just five minutes call free on
08000 302 302 and quote ‘Save the
Rhino’ or go to www.ecotricity.co.uk
31
1
Unlike its namesake this leopard
is no hunter, which is fine since
their diet is made up of mostly
plant matter, especially the
prickly pear cactus.
Likes: Playing hide and seek. They can
retract their head and legs into their
protective shell if feeling threatened.
The Small Five
On safari in Africa, people are often in search of
seeing the ‘Big Five’ which traditionally includes
Elephant, Lion, Buffalo, Leopard and Rhino.
But good things can come in small packages too and we wanted to introduce
you to a hip new group called the ‘Small Five’.
Dislikes: Being turned upside
down! Males gain the favour
of the females by fighting and
trying to overturn their opponent
on their backs (they right
themselves later).
Buffalo Weaver
Often found in the wake
of a buffalo herd.
Likes: Hanging out with
their housemates. They
like to build massive
untidy stick–nests for
the colony, which have
several spherical woven
nests within.
I’m not quite as fa
st
as my namesake..
.
Elephant Shrew
Dislikes: Getting wet.
Buffalo weavers live in
dry regions, where they
forage on the ground in small
noisy flocks.
3
A small mammal with a big character.
Likes: Twisting around their
elephant-like nose in
search of insects.
2
we like to
hang out in
flocks
Dislikes: Any other
elephant shrews
wandering into their
territory are soon
violently evicted!
spot
those horns!
I may be small but
I’m very territorial!
Ant Lion
4
The ant lion is a
small insect larvae
which often preys on ants. They
are also called ‘doodlebugs’
because of the odd winding,
spiralling trails left in the sand.
Likes: To build traps to catch prey and
then suck the body juices from victims
with those two massive pincers.
Dislikes: Itchy, old skin. From time to
time the larvae shed their entire skin.
A 6mm
monster!
32
Even more
aggressive than
its giant namesake,
the male has a
conspicuous horn
protruding from its
forehead.
Thank You!
We would like to give
our warmest thanks
to the following
individuals, companies
and grant-making
bodies for their
generous support for
our work over the last
six months. We could
not achieve all that we
do without the time,
goodwill and, financial
and pro-bono support
of you all.
Our heartfelt
thanks to:
Rhinoceros
Beetle
winged
adult
The Small Five
Leopard Tortoise
Individuals
Alan Anderson, P Archibald, Chris
Barlow, Janet Beccaloni, Nick Beckett,
Paul Brown, Jennie Burns, Vanessa
Buxton, Robin and Patrizia CookeHurle, Adrian Cross, Abigail Day,
Robert Devereux, Kenneth Donaldson,
Richard Emslie, Henry French,
Mike Gratton, Hannah Grist, Sarah
Harper, Kerim Hilmi, the Hitchhiker’s
cast, Jessica Jupp, Laara Jupp,
Tom Keeley, Tom Kenyon-Slaney,
Georgina Kwaszenko, Hannah
Kwaszenko, Lord and Lady Latymer,
Joanne Lawson, Andy Lindsay,
John Lloyd, Douglas Metcalfe,
Neil Mitchard, Geraldine Mulherrin,
Ben Newman, Sara Orritt, Gemma
Percy, Laura Petetti, Terry Phipps,
Professor Steven Pinker, David Powell,
Hilary Puxley and Michael Crane, Alex
Rhind, Steve Robins, Mark Sainsbury,
Hugh Scott-Barrett, Jon Sleeman,
Malcolm Stathers, George and
Lucilla Stephenson, Alex Taliaferro,
Carol Thatcher, Dan Tipp,
Dr The Hon A and Mrs P Todd,
Oliver Tovey, Edward Warren,
John West, Berry White,
Lizzie Whitebread, Sarah Whitebread,
Kirstie Wielandt, Oliver Wilcox,
Dixe Wills, Maurice Wostenholm
Companies
23Red Abercrombie and Kent, Beasty Bags, Boss & Co.
Gunmakers, Cazenove+Loyd, Chatham-Worth Specialities,
Clipper Teas, The Colourhouse, Give it Gifts, The Ecologist,
Exotic Paper Company, The Field, Holmes-Wood, Interstate
Associates, Oliver Brown RAB Capital, Rhino Wine Gear,
Saffery Champness, Serengeti Asset Management, Silver
Jungle Ltd, Ed Victor Ltd, Victor Stationery
Charities, trusts and foundations
and other grant-making organisations
Amnéville Zoo, Ashden Trust, BBC Wildlife Fund,
Body Shop Foundation, Chester Zoo, Colchester Zoo’s
Action for the Wild, Marjorie Coote Animal Charity Trust,
Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science,
EAZA, Sydney E Franklin New Second Charity,
Simon Gibson Charitable Trust, Sir Matthew Goodwin’s
Charitable Trust, Google grants, Bryan Guinness
Charitable Trust, International Rhino Foundation,
JJ Charitable Trust, Mackintosh Foundation, Mark Leonard
Trust, Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust, Linbury Trust,
Garrett and Mary Moran Family Foundation, Opel Zoo,
Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, Safari Club
International, Safari Club International Foundation,
Salzburg Zoo, Stuttgart Zoo, Synchronicity Foundation,
Townsend Family Foundation, Trafalgar School at
Downton, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Walker 597 Trust.
And thank you to all those who wish to
remain anonymous.
5
Likes: Weight lifting. Lifting up to
850 times their bodyweight, they are
the strongest animals on the planet relative
to their body size.
Dislikes: Overeating and fresh food. Rhino
beetles eat rotting fruit and tree sap. In
spite of their size, they don’t eat very much.
A rhino tattoo!
We have a special “back page” model this issue. Scott McLean from
Hollywood wanted to make a personal statement and get a rhino
tattooed on his
back! So as long as he lives the rhino will live on. The tattoo took
to date about 12 hours over four sessions. Scott said it hurt, but the
cause is worth it.
“This is something that I felt passionate about and I wanted to try
to bring these great animals some much-deserved attention”.
31
Staff
Director: Cathy Dean
Fundraising Manager: Petra Fleischer
Events Manager: Fiona Macleod
Office and Communications Manager:
Lucy Boddam-Whetham
Michael Hearn Intern: Laurence Smith
Project Advisor: David Stirling
Founder Patrons
Douglas Adams
Michael Werikhe
The Horn
Design: The Tree is Green. Special thanks
to Jon Sleeman. (www.ttig.co.uk)
Patrons
Clive Anderson
Louise Aspinall
Laura Bailey
Nick Baker
Chloe Chick
Dina de Angelo
Robert Devereux
Fergal Keane
Francesco Nardelli
Martina Navratilova
Julian Ozanne
Ines Sastre
Robin Saunders
Tira Shubart
The Hon William Stanhope
James Sunley
William Todd-Jones
Printing
The Colourhouse Ltd. Thanks too to Colourhouse, for
their loyal and efficient support over the years
MAIN PICTURE: RENAUD FULCONIS. BELOW RIGHT: CATHY DEAN.
Trustees
Christina Franco (Chair)
Tom Kenyon-Slaney
Mark Sainsbury
George Stephenson
Nick Tims
Adam Wylie
CATHY DEAN
Founder Directors
Johnny Roberts
David Stirling
SCOTT MCLEAN’S AMAZING RHINO TATTOO
Save the Rhino International, Inc
Save the Rhino International, Inc is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organisation.
Donations to it are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
EIN 31-1758236.
Save the Rhino International, Inc
c/o Chapel & York Limited, PMB # 293
601 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 900, South Building
Washington, DC 20004
http://savetherhino-inc.webs.com
Save the Rhino International
Connecting conservation and communities
16 Winchester Walk, London SE1 9AQ
Registered Charity No. 1035072
T: +44 (0)20 7357 7474 F: +44 (0)20 7357 9666 E: info@savetherhino.org W: www.savetherhino.org
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