“R” is for Rhinos … and also for Raoul du Toit

Wildlife Heroes by Julie Scardina and Jeff Flocken

In their new book, Wildlife Heroes, authors Julie Scardina (SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment) and Jeff Flocken (International Fund for Animal Welfare) spotlight 40 of the world’s leading wildlife conservationists.  Prominent on their list is Raoul du Toit, the International Rhino Foundation’s Africa Program Coordinator.  Raoul is no stranger to such honors that recognize his commitment to African rhinoceroses, having received the World Conservation Union’s prestigious Sir Peter Scott Award in 2009 and the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2011.

Raoul du Toit – Lowveld Rhino Trust

Raoul was born and still lives in Zimbabwe, a country that harbors the fourth largest populations of both black and white rhinos.    He holds degrees in zoology and environmental studies, but claims to have become involved in rhino conservation somewhat by chance.  In 1990, he established the Lowveld Rhino Conservancy Project, which became the Lowveld Rhino Trust (LRT) a decade later.  The LRT focuses its efforts in two privately-managed wildlife conservancies – Save Valley and Bubye Valley – converted cattle ranches that span a combined area of nearly one-and-a-half million acres and harbor several hundred rhinos, both black and white.  Following a period of intense poaching in the late 1980s, strategic conservation efforts helped Zimbabwe’s black rhino population rebound in the 1990s. Animals were moved from threatened areas to more secure conservancies, and the results are increasing rhino numbers in the Lowveld region, despite the recent rise in poaching pressure.

Lowveld Rhino Trust black rhino immobilization

Under Raoul’s direction and the auspices of Zimbabwe’s National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, Lowveld rhinos are monitored year round.  The goal is to identify every animal, using a system of distinct physical characters, tags and transmitters.  Local teams of rhino trackers work hand-in-hand with wildlife rangers and veterinarians both to prevent poaching and respond to emergencies.  Each year, dozens of rhinos are routinely immobilized for identification purposes or for veterinary treatment, and these procedures involve coordination of teams on foot, all-terrain vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.  In addition, the LRT must also deal occasionally with orphaned rhino calves whose mothers have been killed by poachers.  These animals may require rescue and rehabilitation, but are eventually returned to the wild.

Black rhino mother and calf – Lowveld Conservancies

As a result of all these efforts, the Bubye Valley Conservancy recently witnessed the birth of the 100th black rhino calf since recovery efforts began there 10 years ago.  With the continued success of intensive management efforts, experts estimate that only five years will be necessary for the next one hundred calves to be born.

Lowveld Rhino Trust Monitoring Team

Raoul relies on a very dedicated team of colleagues to accomplish these results.  Australian biologist Natasha Anderson coordinates both monitoring and local education programs, while fellow Zimbabweans Lovemore Mungwashu and Jackson Kamwi serve as operations coordinator and head rhino monitor, respectively.  Their collective work in the Lowlveld receives generous support from a variety of sources including government agencies, international foundations, zoological parks, corporations and individuals.

If you’d like to know more about rhino conservation in Zimbabwe, click on http://www.rhinos.org/zimbabwe-lowveld-rhino-program.

Raoul du Toit and black rhino

“R” is for Rhinos: Home Range

“R” is for Rhino … and also for Home Range.

Whether a rhino lives on the African Serengeti, in the foothills of the Himalayas, or in the dense tropical forests of Java and Sumatra, it inhabits what wildlife ecologists refer to as a home range.  This is the area in which it must find all the food, water, and shelter necessary to survive, as well as locate members of the opposite sex in order to reproduce.  Sometimes the home range of one individual will overlap with those of others.  In other cases, one rhino will defend part or all of its home range from intrusion by other species or members of its own kind.  Biologists refer to this defended area as a territory.

The size of a rhino’s home range varies from species to species, from one habitat type to another, from one season to the next, and even between the two sexes.  Field research results also can be mixed depending upon the study methods used and the way in which the home ranges are actually mapped.  However, it appears that the rhino species with the most compact home range may be the greater one-horned or Indian rhino, which prefers wetland habitats in river valleys.  Studies conducted in Nepal’s Royal Chitwan National Park indicate that the average annual home range of a female is slightly less than four square kilometers (about 1,000 acres) and that of a male slightly more.  Studies also show that Indian rhino ranges expand during periods of drought, when animals have to travel further to find food, and shrink during the monsoon season, when increased rains produce lusher, denser vegetation.

Larger home ranges are more common among the two savanna-dwelling African species – the black rhino and the white rhino – and the two tropical forest-dwelling Asian species – the Sumatran rhino and Javan rhino.  Home ranges of female Sumatran and Javan rhinos usually don’t overlap and may cover between eight to 15 square kilometers.  Male home ranges of these same two species tend to be significantly larger, perhaps 15 to 50 square kilometers, and are much more likely to overlap.  Some of the largest home ranges measured are those of black rhinos inhabiting the vast Serengeti.  In fact, it’s not unusual for an individual to roam an area of more than 100 square kilometers. The abundance of waterholes, wallows and salt-licks factors into home range size as much as food availability.

Rhinos typically mark their territories with urine and dung, as well as by scraping the soil with their hooves and rubbing trees with their horns.  Some concentrate their dung in piles called middens, which serve as natural “street signs,” while others kick it into the air to better disseminate their unique scent and advertise their presence.  Given a rhino’s notoriously poor eyesight, the use of olfactory cues helps avoid aggressive encounters.

“R” is for Rhinos: Reserves

“R” is for Rhinos … and also for Reserves

The idea of raising rhinos on private reserves is certainly not new and has, in fact, contributed significantly to the remarkable recovery of the southern white rhinoceros during the 20th century. Having been reduced to a remnant population of fewer than one hundred animals in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Game Reserve in the 1890s, white rhinos numbers have swelled to more than 20,000 animals spread across nine countries—South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Mozambique.  The overwhelming bulk—more than 90%—of the these populations are found in the Republic of South Africa, where approximately one-quarter of the country’s white rhinos are maintained on private lands. Private landowners in South Africa hold about 20% of the nation’s black rhinos as well.

Rhinos raised on private reserves have been used to repopulate protected areas, to bolster nature tourism, and for trophy hunting programs that help generate support for wildlife conservation. In China, rhinos are reportedly being ranched to produce horn for medicinal purposes. Currently, a controversy is brewing as to whether the international trade in rhino horn should be legalized, which some private holders favor as a way of managing what they consider to be a renewable resource, meeting the demand that currently exists in countries like China and Vietnam, and ultimately reducing rhino poaching by bringing down the price of illegally obtained and trafficked horn. Opponents to legalization favor increased protection and de-horning as anti-poaching counter measures.  This issue is hotly debated and under review by parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Most of the major NGOs, including IRF, do not support legalizing trade in rhino horn.

International policies and politics aside, among the five rhino species, the white rhino is the best candidate for breeding under managed conditions. White rhinos are generally more tractable than black rhinos, as well as more easily maintained as herds at higher densities than their somewhat smaller and more irritable cousins. Private holding of rhinos is largely an African phenomenon. Asian rhinos are found only in national parks such as the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park in India, and Way Kambas and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks in Indonesia.

Managing rhino populations in special captive breeding programs is a major undertaking.  Large areas of suitable habitat – at least 10,000 to 15,000 acres – must be secured.  Compatibility with other farming or agricultural activities must be considered, as well as interactions with other wildlife. For example, adult rhinos may engage in aggressive encounters with elephants or hippos, and calves may fall victim to predators such as lions, hyenas or crocodiles. Protection from poachers is critical, especially given the recent spike in the illegal rhino horn trade, and ranchers must make serious investments in this aspect of their operations. Some have taken to dehorning their rhinos to deter poachers, while a few have even injected their animals’ horns with chemicals that render them toxic to consumers.

Rhino breeding for conservation is not limited to range countries. In the United States, for example, both white and black rhinos are maintained at a number of special facilities as insurance populations, and perhaps as eventual stock for reintroduction programs.

“R” is for Rhinos: Widodo Ramono

“R” is for Rhinos, and also for …. Widodo Ramono.

Few people have dedicated more years to the study and conservation of Asian rhinos than Indonesian biologist Widodo Ramono. Born on April 4, 1945 in the Central Javan city of Blora, Widodo today serves as the executive director of Yayasan Badak Indonesia (YABI), the Rhino Foundation of Indonesia. Located in Bogor, YABI is the International Rhino Foundation’s principal partner in programs that are helping to ensure the survival of both Sumatran and Javan rhinos.

Widodo is married with three grown children. He looks remarkable young for someone approaching seventy years of age and credits his general well being to a healthy diet and working outdoors. When not at YABI’s headquarters in Bogor, Widodo spends most of his time at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary or inspecting the work of Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) at Bukit Barisan Selatan, Way Kambas and Ujung Kulon National Parks. He also receives invitations from government authorities and international organizations to speak about rhino conservation efforts in Indonesia, where the final strongholds for the two rarest and most critically endangered species are found.

Following his elementary and secondary school education in Blora, Widodo studied nature conservation at the Senior High School of Forestry in Bogor and later traveled internationally to receive technical training in forestry operations, national park administration, wildlife management, environmental impact assessment, conservation biology and public sector leadership. Since 1969, he has held a variety of civil servant positions in wildlife conservation, notable among them being the head of Nature Protection and Conservation of Ujung Kulon National Park, which now holds the world’s last known population of Javan rhinos – perhaps 40 to 50 individuals. Widodo’s lengthy career has also included the management of Asian elephant populations in southern Sumatra, and development of three Indonesian national parks (Bukit Barisan Selatan, Kerinci Seblat and Way Kambas). After completing his study on State Administration in Lampung, he was appointed forestry operations management chief in Aceh Province. And, as the former Director of Biodiversity Conservation for the Ministry of Forestry, he played a major role in establishing management practices for his country’s national parks, nature and game reserves, recreation forests, and wetlands.Widodo worked for The Nature Conservancy – Indonesia Programs after completing his work with for the Government of Indonesia.

Last June, no one was more gratified than Widodo at the birth of Andatu, the first Sumatran rhino ever born in captivity in Indonesia. The birth took place at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary, which Widodo supervises with support from the International Rhino Foundation. However, his celebration regarding this historic birth is tempered by the continued threats that face Indonesia’s remaining rhinos, which means that Widodo Ramono’s job is not yet done.

“R” is for Rhinos: Radio-telemetry

“R” is for Rhinos, and also for …. Radio-telemetry.

The technology known as radio-telemetry enhances our ability to track and monitor rhinos.  The principles of radio-telemetry are essentially the same as listening to a radio news broadcast.  A small portable transmitter – think of it as a miniature radio station – emits radio waves that travel invisibly through the air, are picked up by an antenna and channeled to a receiver.  However, instead of commentary, music or advertisement, the transmitter emits a series of beeps – or is it bleeps?  Either way, the sound emitted by each transmitter can be set to a different frequency, allowing the listener to tune in to a specific one and determine from which direction the sound has originated.

Wildlife biologists routinely use radio-telemetry equipment to pinpoint the location of animals that are otherwise difficult to find and track.  More often than not, the transmitters are attached to collars that are specially designed not to restrict, hinder or harm but, depending on the target species, sometimes the transmitters can be attached to or imbedded in the animal’s body itself, such as in the dorsal fin of whale or the horn of a rhino.  As they say, “This isn’t rocket science,” but developing technologies should allow field researchers to gather more important information about the animals they study.

Two IRF projects employ radio-telemetry as standard practice – monitoring programs for translocated black rhinos in Zimbabwe’s Lowveld conservancies and for reintroduced greater one-horned rhinos in Manas National Park as part of the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 initiative. In Zimbabwe, more use is made of transmitters that can be placed inside a small cavity drilled that’s drilled into the rhino’s horn after it has been immobilized. Black rhinos have two relatively large horns, so the size ratio of horn to transmitter favors this strategy.  By comparison, the word “greater” in greater one-horned rhino refers not to the size of the horn, but to the bulk of the beast, and its relatively smaller horn is a less favorable site for a radio transmitter. Consequently, reintroduced rhinos in Assam, India are fitted with special, flexible radio-collars. The science is the same, but there are practical differences to consider.  At the end of the battery’s life on a radio-collared rhino, the animal has to be immobilized a second time to remove the collar, which poses some risk to the rhino. A horn implant, by comparison, simply “grows out’’ of the horn after about three years.

By radio-tracking rhinos that are also individually identifiable by sex, size, scars, ear-notches and ear-tags, wildlife biologists are able to continuously monitor their movements across large areas. For example, black rhinos released in Zimbabwe’s Bubye and Save Valley Conservancies can conceivably roam over more than a million acres.  On the other hand, greater one-horned rhinos in Manas National Park may tend to concentrate their activity close to the park perimeter and perhaps cross over into unprotected territory. In either case, rhino rangers and park guards must monitor their whereabouts to protect them from the threat of poachers.

A new approach to rhino radio-telemetry is currently being tested in southern Africa – attaching transmitters to ankle bracelets. Although these transmitters are relatively large, they add the capacity to relay positions via satellite links. Some wildlife biologists remain wary of their use, due to the risk of lesions to the rhinos’ legs or because the units can be damaged if the rhinos bash them against rocks or trees. Another new approach is RFID (Radio-Frequency IDentification) transponder technology, which allows smaller devices to be used. This is currently being tested in an International Rhino Foundation project in Zimbabwe, as well as in Namibia.

By experimenting with new ways to track and monitor these impressive creatures, rhino conservationists will gain a better understanding of their ecology and behavior, and hopefully will become more adept at protecting and rebuilding rhino populations.

For more information about Indian Rhino 2020 and the translocation of Greater one-horned rhinos in Assam, please watch the video below.

“R” is for Rhinos: Radiate

Bill Konstant, Program Officer

The word “rhinoceros” begins with the letter “R”, as do many other terms, places and names that relate to rhino ecology, behavior, history and conservation. In the weeks ahead, we’ll examine a number of “R” words that will give us a better understanding of these amazing creatures.

Radiate

Just like other mammals and birds, rhinos are endotherms. Their bodies are like internal combustion engines, producing heat as they consume and digest food. This metabolic heat warms their innards, and then they radiate any excess heat to the surrounding environment in order to maintain a stable internal temperature.  The process is called thermoregulation. The average rhino’s body temperature is about 100o F, not much different from our own. You may have heard endotherms referred to as “warm-blooded” animals – they’re able to keep their bodies warm even in freezing weather.

Other creatures, such as insects, fish, frogs, turtles and snakes are ectotherms.  They rely largely on external sources of heat – mainly the sun – to maintain internal body temperature. As a result, the temperature of their skin, bones, muscles and other organs is usually not very different from the air or water that surrounds them. Although ectotherms are commonly referred to as “cold-blooded”, their body temperature actually can rise to very high levels – think about a lizard sitting on a hot desert rock in the middle of the day – so they are very much at the mercy of their environment and sometimes need to take extraordinary measures to stay warm or keep their cool.

A crocodile submerged in the river is as cold as the water in which it swims, while one basking on the riverbank is warmed by the sun. If the sun’s rays are too strong, the crocodile will open its mouth and allow the moisture inside to evaporate. Heat thus radiates from the crocodile’s open mouth and helps cool the reptile’s insides.

Rhinos also risk overheating under the hot tropical sun, and they lack sweat glands that would help them cool off.  So, whether they live out on the plains, in marshes or in dense jungles, they routinely seek out water to help rid themselves of excess heat  When they bathe in mud, we call this wallowing. By coating its body in cool wet mud, the rhino provides the path for internal heat to radiate from its body and evaporate into thin air.  Wallowing also helps the rhino protect its skin from insect pests like mosquitoes and flies, as well as from sunburn.

Endotherms like rhinos employ a variety of cooling mechanisms. Hippos remain submerged during daylight hours. Dogs, foxes, coyotes and wolves pant, shedding heat through their open mouths much the same as crocodiles.  And elephants fan their huge, thin ears to dissipate heat.