BLACK RHINO - ON THE EDGE - From 18 May - 3 June 2009, RSCF trustee Mark Davis, DVM assisted a
team of rhino specialists translocating 29 black rhinos in the Lowveld region of Zimbabwe. This effor has never
before been captured on film. The short video below is just part of a larger media project currently in progress.
Your support is needed to
continue this crucial recovery project for Black Rhino. By supporting this effort we can continue to flow funds to the
individuals and organizations working together to preserve one of Africa's most recognized, iconic species.
Rescue and Relocation -
Efforts to Save the Critically Endangered Black Rhino
The team captured and moved animals from high-risk areas to a protected
conservancy containing 80 previously translocated rhinos. In addition, animals were treated for
bullet and snare wounds, horns were preemptively removed to deter poaching, and all were fitted with telemetry
transponders.
Poaching of black rhinos for their horns has escalated in Zimbabwe, with only 415 now remaining--down from 2000
in 1988. Zimbabwe's disastrous economy,
rampant unemployment, and skyrocketing black-market prices for rhino horn have fueled the slaughter, exacerbated
by an ever-increasing Chinese presence in
Africa that purchase the horns for traditional medicines.
Sadly, emergency translocations are currently the only means to save Zimbabwe's vulnerable rhino populations.
While translocating the animals,
the team discovered the carcasses of nine black rhinos--including mothers and calves--killed during the
previous 90 days. Raoul du Toit, Africa's Rhino
Program Director, predicted that all of the 29 rhinos safely translocated would have otherwise been
poached by year's end.
