Namibia
Namibian Kunene dessert rhinos recovering

afrol News, 4 November - One of the most unusual members of the rhino world - the desert-dwelling black rhino of Kunene, Namibia - is recovering from near extinction, thanks to decades of intense conservation work.

IUCN, the World Conservation Union, pays tribute to Blythe Loutit of Save the Rhino Trust (SRT), who is also a member of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG), for her special dedication to the Kunene rhinos. Loutit has worked for more than 20 years to conserve rhinos in the northwestern province of Kunene.

In 1982, when the Trust was established, poaching had decimated local populations of wildlife, including black rhino. Numbers had declined to less than 70. Following two decades of dedication and commitment, rhino numbers have doubled. 

SRT work includes anti-poaching patrols, ecotourism development, and research - all involving local communities. Mrs. Loutit "helps local people improve their lives while safeguarding their natural resources," IUCN concludes. 

More than 130 black rhino are now thriving in extremely rugged conditions under the protection of the local communities. "In Kunene, everyone is concerned about rhino - farmers, tourist lodge operators, concession owners and visitors, as well as the Namibian Government," according to IUCN. 

In October 2000, in response to an unusually high death rate of rhino calves, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism wrote to all safari groups, lodges and tour operators with guidelines to follow when visiting Kunene.

The AfRSG has identified the desert rhinos in Namibia, Diceros bicornis bicornis, as key to the survival of desert rhino in the world. This subspecies is largely limited to Namibia, but there are also a few small newly introduced populations in the arid western areas of South Africa. 

Group rates the two major populations in Namibia as "key" populations for the survival of this subspecies. Any conservation programmes aimed at maintaining or enhancing the viability of these populations are therefore strongly supported. The population at Kunene represents roughly on fifth of the dessert rhino's total population.

According to statistics presented by the Namibian Rhino Trust, the black rhino population in Africa has been decimated over the last decades. While there were an estimated 100.000 black rhinos on African soil in 1960, this was reduced to 63.000 animals in 1970, 14.800 in 1980 and only 3.000 in 1990.

The African black rhino population reached its lowest numbers about 1992, with an estimated 2.400 animals on the entire continent. The numbers since then have been stable. According to the Rhino Trust, "this is mostly due to the 23 percent growth in population in Namibia and South Africa." In other parts of Africa, black rhino populations still are declining.

Four subspecies of black rhinos are known. While the dessert rhino now is recovering in Namibia and the southern rhino, Diceros bicornis minor, is the most numerous and well protected in South Africa and partly Zimbabwe, the two other subspecies might be headed for extinction. Only seven animals of the northern subspecies still live in Northern Cameroon. Kenya seems however to have stabilised the population of the eastern rhino - despite widespread poaching. 

Sources: IUCN, Rhino Trust and afrol archives

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