Rhino Poaching in South Africa

Rhino SpeciesThere are two rhino species in Africa:• The black, or hook-lipped, rhino (approx. 4,800)• The white, or square-lipped, rhino (approx. 20,165)

And three other remaining rhino species:• Indian rhino (approx. 2,850) in India and Nepal• Sumatran rhino (less than 200) in Sumatra• Javan rhino (less than 50) in Indonesia

2012 population figures

The market in rhino hornHistoric uses:Yemen: for the handles of curved daggers, or ‘jambiya’, presented to boys at the age of 12.

China: from at least 7th century a.d. rhino horns have been used to carve into ceremonial cups, buttons, belt buckles, hair-pins and paper weights.

The trade now:Many Asian countries: used in Chinese traditionalmedicine, ground into powder and dissolved in boilingwater. It is used to treat a number of ailments includingfever, rheumatism and gout, as well as ailments as diverseas snake bites, hallucinations, typhoid, headaches,vomiting and food poisoning. It is not, as is commonlythought, used as an aphrodisiac.

What is rhino horn made of?Rhino horns are largely made up of keratin, a similar material to our hair andnails, and to animal hooves. The centre of the horn contains dense mineraldeposits of calcium and melanin. They are similar in structure to a horse’shoof.

1383 122

333448

653

0

200

400

600

800

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Number of Rhinos poached

Why the increase?• One of the reasons is thought to be the announcement in 2008 that a

Vietnamese official had been cured of cancer by using rhino horn.

• Black-marketeers are stock-piling horns to control the market and in thehope that rhinos will be extinct in 10 or 20 years time so they can nametheir price.

• It also believed that many privately owned horns were sold in the mid2000s and the supply has now dried up.

• Rhino horn in some parts of Asia is worth more than US$65,000 per kilo.This is higher than both gold, platinum and cocaine. Currently the rewardsfrom poaching outweigh the risks.

Why should you consider helping?• You could be the last generation to see a live rhino. If rhino poaching

continues at the current rate, rhino populations will quickly decrease,leading to the risk that rhinos that you have so enjoyed observing, simplywon’t be around for your children or grandchildren to enjoy.

• Rhinos have been an important part of a wide range of ecosystems foraround 50 million years.

• Rhinos are an umbrella species, which means that while protecting rhinos,other species which share the same habitat benefit from thoseprotections.

• Rhinos are the second largest land mammals. They encourage visitors toareas where local communities benefit from the funds brought into thearea.

How do rhinos use their horns?• Defence: female rhinos will protect their young against predators.• Attack: male rhinos will use their large front horns as weapons when

fighting for dominancy.• Greeting: black rhinos often rub horns to greet one another.• Guiding: female rhinos will use their horn to guide their calf.

What we are doing and what you can do to help

How we have been affected

In 1998, when we first introduced rhinos toAnt’s Nest, we could not have foreseen theimplications of the national rhino poachingproblem that we have seen since 2009.

It was in 2010 that rhino poaching becamea national issue and rhino poaching beganin the Waterberg area. We were aware ofthe problem and began doing regularfence patrols at that time.

What we have done• Since the second incident, we have hired two armed security guards to

work alongside one of the original security guards we employed.• Our staff still do regular patrols and fence checks in addition to the work

of the security guards.• We have had our rhino horns treated with an ecto-parisiticide and pink

cash-in-transit dye, to deter poachers, in order to make the horns unsaleable.

• We have attached a tracking device to Erwin, our bull, to monitor his movements.

• We have introduced a Conservancy Fee, similar to that charged in many National Parks and Private Game Reserves, in order to support our work in protecting rhinos and managing the animals within the reserve.

• We feed our rhinos daily at Ant and Tessa’s house so that we can keep an eye on them (guests are welcome to have sundowners there and watch the rhinos, although we cannot guarantee they will turn up every day).

Founding of Save the Waterberg RhinoAlongside the two incidents at Ant’s, we were also aware of a number ofother incidents of poaching in area. At that time, we decided that we wantedto do something to protect rhinos in the whole Waterberg area.

As the plan developed, and we heard from experts in the field, we learnt thatsecuring the area in general is essential to securing rhinos in the Waterbergand individual rhino owners cannot make a difference by themselves.

We managed to unite the community in this aim and Save the WaterbergRhino was founded in November 2012. It is Non Profit Organisation, underthe umbrella of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve and supported by StopRhino Poaching.

The charity was given a kick start by a very generous donation made by MarkKnopfler of Dire Straits, allowing us to implement many of the aboveprotections.

The Cost of SecurityAfter both poaching incidents we had a choice.We could either dramatically increase thesecurity over the whole reserve or we could sellall of our rhinos and make this a rhino-freereserve. If you have spent any time with ourrhinos you will be aware that we know them allpersonally and would do almost anything to keepthem here.

The cost of securing our rhinos is around R60,000per month (at time of writing that equates toaround £4255 or €5230 or US$6840).

What can you do to help?• Ask for more information from your guide or host at dinner. We will

happily speak to you about the issues surrounding rhino poaching.• Add your voice. Speak to your friends and family about the issue.• Leave a donation in our donation box in the lodge for Save the Waterberg

Rhino, a non profit organisation dedicated to protecting rhinos in the localarea.

• Take home a poster and put it up in your office• Buy a t-shirt or bumper sticker in our curio shop.• Become a friend of Save the Waterberg Rhino for R1,500 per year• Visit the website www.waterbergrhino.com to see what they are doing and

make a donation via our website.• Sign up for the newsletter via the website to get updates on progress.• “Like” the Save the Waterberg Rhino page on Facebook.

In December 2011 we suffered our first poaching. At that time, our fenceswere dropped with our neighbour and our rhinos liked to roam the plainswhich bordered the Ellisras Road at Ant’s Hill. Poachers entered the farm andshot one of our beautiful rhino cows, Split Horn, and her eleven month oldbaby. The baby survived for 24 hours and we drafted in help from therenowned rhino expert, Karen Trendler. Unfortunately the bullet had donetoo much damage and the calf was lost.

We immediately stepped up fence checks and patrols, and monitored thelocation of our rhinos every day and in May 2012 we hired two securityguards.

In a property of this size, however, two guards cannot cover the whole area(for a property of this size we would ideally have 6-8 security guards) and wewere hit again in August 2012, when another of our cows, Banana Horn, wasshot. Her eighteen month old calf, Max, escaped and can often be seen atAnt’s Hill.

***Please do not be alarmed. There has never been an incident involving aguest at a lodge or in a National Park, nor involving guides going about theirdaily work. Poachers remain hidden and do not engage in aggressive actionagainst people.***

What we still want to doAs well as the ongoing costs of securing our rhinos through the employmentof security guards, we still want to buy a number of items to support ourefforts against poaching:• Thermal vision equipment (approximately £6000)• Bullet proof vests (to protect staff doing patrols)• Quad bikes to enable the security guards to patrol more of the reserve• Camera traps to secure the fence-linesAny funding received once we have achieved our aims at Ant’s will beprovided to support other rhino owners and to rhino security in the area.

Interesting ReadingKilling for Profit: Exposing the Illegal Rhino Horn Trade by Julian Rademeyer

The Rhino Keepers: Struggle For Survival by Clive Walker and Anton Walker