Rhino Photo of the Week

This weeks photo is by Flickr member photophob from Stuttgart, Germany.  Baby rhino Samir was born on august 11th, 2008 at the Wilhelma in Stuttgart.

http://flickriver.com/photos/photophob/popular-interesting/

rhino baby samir

Rhino Photo of the Week

Rhino at Lake Nakuru

Originally uploaded by hlemmur

This week’s photo was taken by Gareth Codd on September 16, 2009 at Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya.

This photo was taken at Lake Nakuru National Park, an area of Kenya where the White Rhino population is thriving, so much so that in recent months conservation work has taken place whereby a number of Rhino within the park have been relocated to other areas of Kenya in efforts to boost numbers.

Camera – Canon EOS 40D; Exposure – 1/320; Aperture – f/5.6; Focal Length – 250 mm; ISO Speed – 800

Gareth Codd, Hertfordshire, England
www.flickr.com/garethcodd

Rhino Photo of the Week

Ngorongoro Rhino

Originally uploaded by Calmtwood

 

 

This photo of a Black Rhino was taken on April 13th, 2009 at Ngorongroro Crater, Tanzania.

Camera settings: 300mm, F5.6, 1/400, ISO100, Aperture-mode.

The moment a bright day in the Ngorongoro Crater became very bright indeed. The crater is a place where you have a reasonable chance of seeing the Black Rhino, and we got lucky. Nine of them after an unforgettable all-day game-drive.

Jesse van Kalmthout, The Netherlands
www.flickr.com/photos/calmtwood

A Visit from Sumatran Elephants

By Ujang Suryadi, Member, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park Rhino Protection Unit

Our Rhino Protection Unit in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (in Sumatra, Indonesia) spends at least 15 days per month on patrol in the forest, monitoring rhinos and other wildlife, removing snares, and catching illegal hunters, loggers and encroachers. While on patrol, we camp in the forest – we have very basic camps set up on our standard patrol routes. One night, we were staying at Camp 50. Around midnight, we woke up to a commotion and realized there was a small group of Sumatran elephants inside our camp. The group even included a baby elephant – probably around 1 -2 months old!  The elephants stayed in our camp until around 3:00 am, rummaging around. We were excited to see them, but also a little nervous because we know that elephants are unpredictable, and can sometimes be aggressive – especially if they are protecting a calf. We didn’t sleep well at all that night because we had to keep an eye on the elephants. The next night, the elephants came back to our camp at just around the same time, and again stayed until around 3 am. The next day, one of my fellow RPU members and I had set up my camera with tripod and lights, to try to get photos of the elephants if they came back. We found a good position and waited for around 3 hours. Luckily, the elephants found us right around sunrise and I was able to take photos of the mother and calf without disturbing them. Around 7 am, the elephants left our camp and marched deep into the forest. After that, we didn’t see the group again.

Sumatran elephants are endangered, and Bukit Barisan Selatan is one of the most important habitats for Sumatran elephants (as well as Sumatran rhinos and Sumatran tigers, another endangered species). Poachers target elephants because of the high demand for ivory on the black market. Although we are part of the Rhino Protection Unit, we are also committed to protecting the other animals living in the national park, and especially elephants and tigers. Protecting rhinos means protecting all wildlife living in the park. We also track and monitor elephants and tigers, remove snares and traps set for these animals, and collect evidence on and arrest poachers targeting elephants and tigers. We want to preserve all of Sumatra’s unique wildlife for our children and grandchildren to see. 

Translated by Inov.

Rhino Photo of the Week

Indian Rhino at Chitwan Nat. Park Nepal

Originally uploaded by hvhe1

 

This photo of an Indian Rhino at Chitwan National Park in Nepal was taken on the 26th of september 2006

Camera settings: 57mm, f2.8, 1/250sec.

I was on a business trip to India but had a free weekend in between 2 working weeks. Decided to fly to Nepal and visited Kathmandu. At that time a strike was announced that would lame the capital of Nepal. Decided to fly down to Chitwan Nat. Park to try and find tigers and rhinos. Went on elephant back though the park. As this was a non-planned trip I had left my own camera equipment at home and borrowed the little Kyocera camera of my bosses’ wife. Thrilling experience to find the rhinos in the man-tall grass!

Hennie van Heerden
www.flickr.com/photos/hvhe1

Rhino Photo of the Week

Rhino

Originally uploaded by kratzmark

 

The photo was taken on January 8, 2007 whilst I was quietly stalking the beast in my office in Columbia, Maryland.

Fortunately I was close enough to use flash (and a macro!) thus enabling be to shoot 1/60 at f5.

Mark Kratz
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kratzmark/

A Day in Save Valley – Rhino Tracking in Zimbabwe

By Susie Ellis, Ph.D., IRF Executive Director

After spending the night at Raoul du Toit’s house (IRF’s African Rhino Program Advisor), we left Harare for Save Valley Conservancy in the early morning.  Rick Barongi, Director of Houston Zoo (and IRF Board Member) and Deleen du Toit (Raoul’s wife) drove in a truck.  Raoul and I flew in his two-seater plane.  It was incredibly hazy coming out of Harare; many fires were burning in the farmland fields.  Some of the burns are used to clear the fields on lands that have been invaded; others just seem to have swept out of control.  We stopped at Chichakwe Ranch to meet and have lunch with Mark Brightman, who has taken over security detail for Save Valley, and to meet three of the ten Save Valley rhino monitors, Laurence Ncube, Chris Ndhlovu, and Edson Chuma.

Edgar, Lawrence, and Chris (l-r) Save Valley Rhino Monitors

Each of them noted that they are deeply committed to their work, and interestingly, all three had fathers who were also engaged in wildlife or forestry.   Mark reported that shots were  heard a few days ago in Save Valley, and so all the scouts are on high alert.  We believe the poachers are using army service weapons, based on ballistics evidence gathered. From items left behind at the scene when scouts scared one group off, it appears that there are at least a couple of groups operating, and that they are fairly sophisticated.   There seem to be two gangs, minimally, in operation.  One removes the horn with a v-cut and the other chops it off without taking any part of the skull.  The scouts in Save work closely with indemnified officers (police, defense forces, or from National Parks) particularly if there are actual engagements on the ground with the poaching gangs. 

After lunch, Raoul and I then climbed back into the plane and began to track rhinos.  The process goes like this:  the plane gets up about 600-700 feet above ground, and the radio-tracking device is turned on, set to the transmitter frequency of the animal Raoul’s seeking.   The antennae are located on the plane’s wings.  One the device starts to beep, Raoul then circles the plane in tighter and lower circles (not for those with a weak stomach!) around the point of the signal until the animal can be seen.  A couple of the animals were hiding in the bush which made them very difficult to see.  We ended up seeing ten black rhinos in all, including female Gladys and her calf; adult female Ruth; female Fideya with an unidentified bull (which could be good news!); two other adult females, Sarah and Alice; and two of the big bulls, Goliath and Diesel.  Goliath got his name from his enormous size. Diesel  gets his name because the team has had to translocate him several times;  he keeps going back to unsafe areas after he’s been translocated to safer ones – and it’s taken a lot of diesel  to keep moving him to safety.  This time, Diesel was in an area right near a settlement, which does not bode well for his future.  He is a very robust, large, handsome male, but for some reason keeps going back to areas where he is at risk.

Later that afternoon, we flew to Senuko, a lodge operated by Clive Stockil and his partner Lin Barrie, who studies African wild dogs and also is an artist.  In addition to being Chairman of the Save Valley Conservancy, Clive also is Chairman of the Lowveld Rhino Trust.  He is an icon in Zimbabwe’s rhino conservation efforts, having been involved since the beginning, as has Raoul, with the efforts to stock conservancies with rhinos.  Thank goodness for their vision and passion, or else Zimbabwe’s rhino situation would be even more dire than it is now.  Rhino populations in national parks have continued to decrease rapidly, and now the conservancies, especially Save Valley and Bubye River, represent the most important populations which can serve as a source population for future restocking once adequate protection and land management is in place again.

Senuko Lodge destroyed by fire, October 2009

Sadly, Clive and Lin’s lodge which overlooks most of the Conservancy, Senuko, had burned just days prior to our visit.  A fire set in an invaded area nearby got out of control and quickly swept through the Conservancy, completely destroying the lodge.  A few important items were saved, including a large oil painting Lin had done of wild dogs, but almost all the furniture and hardwood poles that supported the thatched roof were gone.  I offered my condolences on the loss, and Clive, obviously a tenacious optimist, said, “Well, the end of one chapter and the start of a new one.” 

Jackson Kamwe

We also had a chance to visit with Jackson Kamwe, who works in Save Valley with Clive.  Jackson was the recipient of a 2009  Conservation Hero Award from the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund.  I asked him a lot of questions about deployment and how the monitoring system works in Save Valley.  There are 10 trackers there now; they patrol every day with a list of animals that need to be found.  When an animals is sighted, a GPS reading is taken and information noted on a form, including date, time, ear notch markings, general status, etc. The data then is compiled in a central site for long-term monitoring for trends and the status and activities of individual rhinos. 

Rhino Data Form Save Valley

We stayed overnight at Hammond Lodge with Graham Connear and his wife Chantal, who hosted a lovely dinner at the lodge for all of us.  Great dinner discussions on how IRF can best support the conservancy efforts, and of course dreams of a day when rhinos won’t be facing the dire circumstances they are today.   Scorpio was bright in the sky and the Milky Way was dazzling.  Love those African night skies!

Rhino Photo of the Week

Rhino Run

Originally uploaded by daniovertherainbow

 

Photo by Dani Barrois, Australia
www.flickr.com/danibarrois

I shot this image in the Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya. A group of 6 white Rhino were grazing and miling about and something spooked this Rhino. I only managed to take one shot of the moment and this is what I got.

Camera settings: Pentax K-m = ISO-200/Exposure Time-1/500sec/Fstop-F8/Focal Length-113mm

New Rhino Baby Born in Uganda

Congratulations to mom Bella and her keepers and friends at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary. Bella, a ten-year-old cow, gave birth on October 7. The calf, pictured here at just 1 day old, is only the second calf born at the Uganda sanctuary  during the past 28 years.

Rhino Photo of the Week

Rhino

Originally uploaded by The Doctor N

Greater One Horned Rhino at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. Taken late afternoon last spring on April 19, 2009 during a visit to the Zoo to take photos.

Camera settings: Pentax K10D + Tamron 70-300mm @300mm F5.6 1/100 sec hand-held

Photo by Darren in Bedfordshire UK
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedoctorn/