In March 2004, Alex Barrett, the editor, had the opportunity to spend a little time with the Operations staff of the North Luangwa Conservation Programme at Marula Puku, their headquarters, in the North Luangwa National Park. Through the genorosity of the Tudor Jones organisation a helicopter was made available for several hours including facilitating aerial radio tracking of the five black rhinos for the first time this season.

During the visit Barrett spent several hours with Andrew Chomba, head of security for the rhino project who briefed him on the security and monitoring arrangements currently in place to protect the first five rhinos to be seen in Zambia for many years. As they drove around the electric fence surrounding the 55 square kilometre enclosure Chomba described how a team of  six Wildlife Police Officers (WPOs) are on constant patrol of the thirty-five kilometre fence supported by a team of four scouts on mobile patrol and two further scouts placed at an observation point high above the enclosure in the Western Escarpment. Rotating in shifts of eleven days the WPOs keep a constant eye on the fence and can pinpoint any breaks or interference by monitoring voltage levels at strategic points along the wire.

Chomba took Barrett into the enclosure itself and showed to him the bomas where the rhinos were initially looked after prior to their release into the sanctuary itself.

The five rhinos have now separated quite widely across the area forming their own territories and are quite difficult to find from the ground but the two tried anyway and picked up a signal from the younger male rhino. Walking a few kilometres through thick bush the signal varied in intensity as they climbed up and down valleys under the hot summer sun. Disappointed at being so close to the rhino without finding him, Chomba and Barrett returned to the Land Rover painfully reminded of the difficulties of field work on a day to day basis.

Later the same day, Barrett joined operations manager Hugo van der Westhuizen in the Eurocopter  to try and locate the rhinos from the air. A pair of tracking aerials was rigged on to the skids on each side of the helicopter and the pilot monitored the incoming signals through headphones so that he could directly find the rhinos and fly straight to each location as signals guided.

Each rhinoceros has a small transmitter embedded into its horn which transmits a signal at a unique frequency that not only gives its location but also identifies the animal to the tracking team. After about an hour criss-crossing the enclosure all the rhinos were located and visual sightings made on the three females. All three were seen to be in pretty good condition and looked settled in their relatively new environment. This was a relief to the team as it was the first time that the animals had been seen this year as the NLCP team's own plane was out of action in Lusaka awaiting spare parts from South Africa.

Back at project headquarters Barrett discussed other aspects of the programme with Elsabe, Hugo's wife and co-manager of the programme. Although the business of protecting the park and surrounding game management areas against poaching and other illegal activities it remains one of the aims of NLCP to hand all management of these activities over to ZAWA in the near future. The North Luangwa is now the most well protected region in Zambia and has a healthy elephant population. As if to illustrate the point a male elephant wandered into the compound and contentedly pulled leaves from a bush just outside the office.

Negotiations are underway to bring in a further five rhino from Zimbabwe and these will be housed in a new enclosure to the north of the present enclosure. If negotiations progress well, a further five rhino are likely to be provided from Kruger Park in South Africa.

Another aspect of the programme that is gaining in importance is getting involved in education of local children in the importance of wildlife and conservation. The re-introduction of black rhinos into the region aroused considerable local interest and local villagers were encouraged to visit the rhinos in their boma prior to their release. In conjunction with this an education programme was put together for use in local schools including the provision of colouring books for students, posters and teacher's aids.

As a further encouragement for the local people to become involved with the park it is planned to introduce new routes around the northern sector of the park with affordable campsites located on the park perimeter. There is a possibility that the new route may be constructed to pass through the new northern rhino enclosure.

Although Frankfurt Zoological Society continues to be the main funding source for NLCP other sources of finance are becoming more important as the brief of the programmes widens and the workload increases. Funding organisations including Tudor Jones and American Fisheries and Wildlife are now significant contributors to the programme. NLCP also plan to have their own website up and running some time this year and Afrikeye looks forward to linking to that when it becomes available.

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