In May 2003 the culmination of nearly fifteen years of dedication to the North Luangwa the Frankfurt Zoological Society achieved its aim of reintroducing the black rhinoceros to Zambia. The following text is written by Elsabe van der Westhuizen and reproduced with the permission of FZS and the North Luangwa Conservation Project team. The photographs were taken by Christof Schenck, FZS (reproduced by permission).

Background

Five rhinos were brought from South Africa on 28th May this year. Two males and three females - all from Kruger National Park except for one bull who was captured in Marakele National Park. They arrived in one flight in a Hercules aircraft - quite an experience to see such a monster of a plane landing on our bush strip.

They spent between 2.5 and 6 weeks in our bomas, and were released one by one over this period. During their time in the bomas they were fitted with radio transmitters implanted in their horns in order for us to be able to track their movements after their release. They did very well in the bomas, and were fed a combination of local browse, as well as lurcerne and browse cubes. We took special care of them during this time, in order for them to be really relaxed and at home in their new environment, so that they could be in top condition before being realised into the wider sanctuary.

The sanctuary is 55 square kilometres in size, with 37 km of electric fence. The fence is only constructed with 4 strands, of which the top and bottom ones are electrified. Our aim was to allow as much as possible movements of other animals to take place to minimise the impact of a fence inside the Park, while keeping the rhinos in a central area where they can be closely monitored and guarded. So far our plan seems to be working which is very reassuring.

A team of scouts have received special training in order to safe-guard the rhino sanctuary, and they are based in 3 pickets around the fence. They do daily patrols on and around the fence.

Monitoring of the rhinos are currently mainly being done by radio-tracking from the plane, so that the animals are not disturbed during the initial settling-period. In the months to come there will however also be monitoring patrols inside the sanctuary - in this way we can be assured that the animals are keeping their condition, as well as gathering information on the food they are eating etc.

Update July 2003

It is now almost two months since the first rhino were released from the bomas in North Luangwa, and we are glad to be able to report that all is going well.

The 5 have settled down, and already it is becoming clear in which areas they have preferred to make themselves at home. Hugo is tracking them on a daily basis from the plane where possible, and on a few occasions have seen them from the ground as well, although we are striving to keep disturbance to a minimum. They all appear healthy and relaxed.

The young calf, Mapalo, for whom we had such concern initially, have done well. She settled in the north eastern corner of the sanctuary, moving between the river in the west and the boundary fence on the east. There seemed to be intermittent contact with the cow with whom she was caught in Kruger, and the second cow was also seen in her area a few times. The first two days after she left the bomas she was moving around quite a bit, and initially it also seemed as if the older bull might be chasing her on, but he moved off and she also did not continue to walk around as much and kept herself to a specific area. The good news is that Hugo saw her together with Natwange, (the cow who is possibly her mother), yesterday. She was keeping right behind her, and they were moving down the riverbed. We are really glad they have joined up, especially for Mapalo's sake.

The other good news is that prior to the calf joining up with her, Natwange has been keeping company with Kanabesa, the oldest bull. They have been seen in the same area for some weeks, and now it seems he has headed down to the southern section of the sanctuary again. We of course hope that they were mating in this time, and that she might now be pregnant.

The younger bull has been keeping very much to himself in the northwest. He settled there immediately after his release (he was the first to leave the bomas). The older bull has at times been close to that area, but we have had no indication that there has been any aggressive interactions between them so far.

The fence has been doing its job very well, with no attempted breakouts by any of the rhinos. All of them have been very close to the fence on occasion, and there is reason to believe that they must have tested the fence at some point and have been turned back. We have often seen animals such as impala and puku moving over or underneath the fence, so our goal of allowing some movement of animals between the in and outside of the sanctuary seems to be working out. We still have break-throughs by especially buffaloes and occasional zebras, and although this creates work for the fence maintenance team, it does also mean that the fence is not creating an impermeable barrier, although it is effective in keeping the rhinos inside. With the progression of the dry season there is a possibility that we will have many more elephant wanting to move through the area as they head up the Mwaleshi and Lubonga rivers, so we are waiting to see if this will create some problems, but otherwise we are very satisfied with the performance of the fence to date.

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