Rhinos Orphaned by Poachers Now Back in the Wild

Text and photos by Natasha Anderson, Lowveld Rhino Trust, Zimbabwe

Natasha Anderson is the Rhino Monitoring Coordinator for Zimbabwe’s Lowveld Rhino Trust, which is supported by the International Rhino Foundation.  In this update, Natasha describes the reintroduction of two orphaned black rhino calves whose mothers had been killed by poachers.

The big day finally arrived. The team started early to avoid any unnecessary unsettling changes in the rhinos’ normal morning routine. Straight after their morning bottles of milk, both rhinos were tranquilized. Once the drugs took effect the capture team moved in, notching both rhinos’ ears for future identification purposes, drawing blood to analyse for health/disease checks, and fitting a horn transmitter to the older Bebrave to aid post-release monitoring.

Loading tranquilized rhino, Bebrave, for reintroduction

All the commotion attracted the attention of the hand-raised eland, Sparky, who had been Bebrave’s companion before Long Playing arrived. Watching all the activity over the fence, the eland was quite unaware that he was to be next, as the plan was to release all three hand-raised animals together since they had been living together for well over a year.

Sparky the eland observing the rhino release from the truck

The drive to the release area took nearly two hours, which is short by normal translocation standards. A quiet water point not normally used by the only other known rhino in the area was chosen in the hope that the two young rhinos will be able to establish new home ranges without disruption. The release went smoothly, the rhinos joining up with each other quickly before quietly walking off down the road – a hugely rewarding sight after a year-and-a-half of daily care.

Bebrave and Long Playing back in the wild

Sparky, the hand-raised eland, was released at the same water point. The hope was that the three friends would re-join each other in the bush. However, it appears that a herd of wild eland came through to drink at the release water point later that same day and Sparky has not been seen in the company of the young rhinos since. Hopefully he is now also back with his own kind.

Sparky the eland returns to the Lowveld

“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

The Curse of the Unicorn

The Unicorn in Captivity (from the Unicorn Tapestries) – Metropolitan Museum of Art

In his book, The Future of Life, biologist Edward O. Wilson had this to say about the first time he laid eyes upon the rare Sumatran rhinoceros in the flesh: “One of the most memorable events of my life occurred on a late May evening in 1994, in a back room of the Cincinnati Zoo, when I walked up to a four-year-old Sumatran rhinoceros named Emi, gazed into her lugubrious face for a while, and placed the flat of my hand against her hairy flank.  She made no response except maybe to blink her eyes. That’s it; that’s all that happened.  No matter: I had at last met my real-life unicorn.”

The unicorn is an imaginary creature that symbolizes purity.  It was first described by Ancient Greek naturalists as a species that inhabited the distant land of India.  Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) spoke of the monoceros, “a very fierce animal … which has the head of the stag, the feet of the elephant, and the tail of the boar, while the rest of the body is like that of the horse; it makes a deep lowing noise, and has a single black horn, which projects from the middle of its forehead, two cubits in length.”  Perhaps the Indian rhinoceros comes to mind?

Greater One-horned or Indian Rhinoceros, Kaziranga National Park

The unicorn legend became popular throughout Europe during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.  The creature was said to roam the woodlands and could only be captured by a virgin.  Many people believed that its horn, which was called an alicorn, was an antidote to poison and could be used to treat illness. Alicorns could be purchased from Scandinavian traders, but the price was extravagant – per weight, supposedly many times more than that of gold.  The average alicorn was grooved and about three feet long.  Unfortunately, it never came from a unicorn.  A Dutch physician and naturalist, Ole Wurm, told the world the truth, the alicorn was really the long tusk of the small arctic whale known as the narwhal.  Narwhals are still hunted today for their tusks by certain indigenous populations, but many experts believe that this is not sustainable over the long-term.

White rhinoceros – South Africa

That the rhinoceros might be likened to the legendary unicorn is not so far-fetched, certainly no stranger than ancient sailors believing that hefty, whiskered sea mammals like dugongs and manatees were really mermaids.  Rhinos are distant relatives of horses and the horns of some rhino species can grow quite long.  So, with a dash of imagination and perhaps a pinch of intoxication, a person viewing a rhino could conjure the image of a unicorn in his mind, although that transformation would seem to be a bit easier with several of the antelope species, such as the oryx, that sport spectacular horns, albeit in pairs and from the top of the skull instead of the nose.

Arabian oryx – United Arab Emirates

Like the unicorn’s unusual appendage, the rhino’s horn also was once believed to detect and neutralize poison, and it is still believed by many Asian people to have medicinal properties.  As a result, white and black rhinos in southern Africa are now being killed by poachers at the rate of almost two per day.  If such slaughter continues, decades of dedicated efforts to bring these species back from the brink of extinction will have been for naught.

Unicorns never existed, but rhinos can and must survive as living legends.

If you’d like to know more about what the International Rhino Foundation is doing to combat poaching in southern Africa, go to: http://www.rhinos.org/operation-stop-poaching-now.

Community Outreach Helps Protect Sumatran Rhinos

Community Outreach Helps Protect Sumatran Rhinos

By Aris Hendriyanto
Protecting wildlife and their habitat is the main job of the Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) in Way Kambas National Park. On patrol we often find illegal activities such as logging, fishing and poaching, and sometimes we have to arrest people.  We send them to the jail, but this doesn’t always stop them.  Sometimes, even after spending time in jail, they return to the national park to cut logs, catch fish, and try to shoot or trap other animals.

Every month our units meet and we discuss this problem. We all agree that it’s important to understand the lives of local people and what makes them break the law.  So, our job is not just to arrest lawbreakers, but also to educate them and help them change their ways.  Each month the RPUs work with the national park staff and meet with local communities, especially the farmers.  This is not our main job, but it is becoming more important all the time.   My friend Bonari and I began community outreach work in the village of Seputih Surabaya, located in central Lampung province. We chose this village because, based on intelligence information, a number of suspected poachers live there.

When we met with the farmers of Seputih Surabaya, we learned that their biggest need was fertilizer for their crops, so we helped them buy fertilizer at a lower cost and plant cacao. This strengthened their trust in the RPUs,and they began to provide useful information about the poaching suspects we had identified.   The farmers made it possibe for us to meet with the suspects and interview them. As a result, a number of former suspects have become reliable informants and have helped warn us of illegal activities before they actually take place.  The prevention program is working well.  Last year, the number of illegal activities in Way Kambas National Park was less than the year before.

Translated and edited by Inov

“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.

The Rhinos are Back … After More Than a Decade!

By Boston Kaloko

The Way Kanan river area of Way Kambas National Park provides good habitat for Sumatran rhinos.  It was about 11 years ago, when one of the Rhino Protection Units (RPUs) first took a photo of a Sumatran rhino wallowing in the Way Kanan. That was when we were still using pocket cameras with negative film, so the picture was not very good. A few years earlier, in 1999, we found foot prints of a baby rhino and its mother at the same location, so we were pleased that the rhino population was doing well.

However, in 2000 many local people began moving into the area.  They began planting cassava, hunting, trapping and fishing, and the rhinos started moving away.  Slowly, year by year, human encroachment grew and we didn’t find any more signs of Sumatran rhinos, not even a foot print or a scratch on a tree.  According to our database, signs of rhinos diappeared from the Way Kanan area and the animals moved away to the central part of the national park.

It wasn’t until 2010 that we were able to take action. The RPUs worked with the national park staff, the police department and the army to remove all encroachment from the park. The operation took one full month, but we cleared 3,500 hectares of all illegal activities.  This is a difficult thing to accomplish in Indonesia, so we were very proud of our success.

Since the successful removal of illegal campsand activities,the RPUs and national park staff have carefully monitored the area. In January 2012, about a year-and-a-half later, we found permanent wallows, feeding signs and scratches on trees – all signs that the rhinos were returning. We were surprised and very, very happy. After being gone from Way Kanan for 11 years, the rhinos were back.  And we continue to find their signs when we patrol that area.  In our opinion, the rhinos are paying us back for protecting them.

Translated and edited by Inov

Seeking the Elusive Badak Jawa: Follow the Mud and Dung

Bill Konstant
Program Officer

Some rhino signs are subtle, others are striking.  For example, I can’t describe the faint odor of rhino urine very well, but I can recognize it now, having gotten several whiffs in the field.  Though invisible to the human eye, it verifies the animal’s presence.  The trail of a rhino through the brush, by contrast, can be as unmistakable as the physical evidence left by someone who just drove a Jeep through your living room.  A single rhino can carve a wide tunnel through the vegetation or bring down a small tree just to reach a tempting mouthful of leaves in the upper branches.

A sapling taken down by a Javan rhino

Rhino trails are not random pathways through the forest.  They connect locations, such as streams, salt licks and wallows that have behavioral and ecological significance.  Rhinos need to drink, they require trace minerals in their diet, and they routinely spend time coating themselves with mud to moderate body temperature and fend off external parasites.

Rhino wallow

Low-lying areas of the forest where water collects can become permanent wallows, which then become regular stops for resident rhinos.  Part of our search strategy was to visit wallows at different times of the day in hopes of surprising a submerged, mud-covered animal.  We did this for several days, each time adding to our knowledge of Javan rhino ecology.  The mud in one of the first wallows we visited had dried and cracked.  No rhino had used it for weeks.  Another was filled with water and topped with foamy bubbles.  It had been used earlier the same day or perhaps the night before.  Its banks were also peppered with cone-shaped holes.  These were made by the horn of a rhino intent on enlarging the area of its mud bath.  Because the horns of female Javan rhinos are very small or even absent, we could tell that this wallow was last used by a male.

Mud rubbed off by rhino

Recently-used wallows also provide clues regarding subsequent travels.  Deep footprints along the edge identify where an animal has hauled itself out.  And the wet mud on its body then generously slops nearby tree trunks or paints leaves along the trail.  Conceivably, one could follow these signs and catch up to an elusive rhino.  A sound theory perhaps, but one which didn’t pay off for our team.  We spent many hours following these signs, but they never led to an unsuspecting rhino.  Instead, they petered out deeper into the forest or brought us back to the coast, often close to where our journey inland had initially begun.  Were the rhinos just messing with us?

No better luck resulted by using dung piles to track rhinos.  Most that we found were probably more than a day old, which didn’t really provide any insight as to where their “depositor” might be.  We did encounter one much fresher sample – still moist and almost steaming – but our efforts to find the rhino responsible again proved fruitless.

Fresh Javan rhino dung

After days of tracking, we came to the conclusion that the Javan rhino absolutely deserves its reputation as an elusive species.  And you also have to respect a creature that’s as big as a car and is able to remain hidden in plain sight.   But our search is not over just yet.  There’s one more site we need to visit and one final strategy to put in place before we admit defeat.

To be continued …

The Elusive Badak Jawa

Forty-five years ago, aviator Charles Lindbergh wrote to the editors of Life magazine, urging that they launch an expedition to Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park to search for the Javan rhino. Indonesians call this animal badak jawa. Lindbergh had visited Ujung Kulon early in 1967, as he stated, “to deal with the critical situation of the one-horned Javan rhinoceros. There are only a few of them left … because they are widely hunted for their horns. It is widely believed in Asia that powdered horn from this rhinoceros will surely restore a man’s virility, and this superstition is enough to have reduced the herd to between 20 and 25.”

Lindbergh did not see any Javan rhinos during his visit to Ujung Kulon, but he had advice for anyone who might follow him in search of this rare and elusive creature. Any expedition should be self-sustaining, as no food supplies are available in the area, aside from catching fish. Water is available from wells and streams, but needs to be boiled for cooking and drinking. Anti-malaria medication is advised. Life ultimately sent writer/photographer Eliot Elisofon to Ujung Kulon, where he spent three months searching for rhinos and ultimately published a detailed account of his efforts in a book titled Java Diary.

When I made my own plans to seek Javan rhinos, I also hoped to come away with the quintessential photo, since so few images of this creature – arguably the rarest large mammal on the planet – exist. Nearly a half-century has passed since Java Diary was written, but you can essentially count the number of decent photos of Javan rhinos taken during that period on one hand, and no one has yet devised a reliable method for finding and observing these animals.

More importantly, however, I wanted to see firsthand what the International Rhino Foundation is doing to save this species from extinction. Charles Lindbergh understood the global importance of Ujung Kulon and its rhinos. In his words, “Here, as in other critical areas of wilderness on every continent, modern man is confronted by the startling values of nature his civilization so facilely destroys. And here will be decided to large degree whether man continues to exterminate his planet’s wildlife or preserve at least the seeds for future use.”

Join me in a trek through one of the world’s most treasured protected areas and a search for the elusive badak jawa. The journey begins shortly.

Rhinos Under the Radar: Introducing Andatu!

Earlier this month, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono officially declared 2012 the International Year of the Rhino.  And, while there is no official Father’s Day in Indonesia, Andalas the Sumatran rhino would probably choose June 23rd.  That’s the day his mate, Ratu, delivered their first calf and the first rhinoceros ever born in captivity in that country.

Andatu, soon after his birth on June 23rd, 2012

His name is Andatu and he entered the world under the light of the moon, which is not uncommon for rhinos and other wild creatures.  The name Andatu is a combination of both parents’ names.  Andalas is an Indonesian word denoting the island of Sumatra, while Ratu means Queen.  The baby’s name, which rolls so nicely off the tongue, is also a shortening of the Indonesian term “Anugerah Dari Tuhan” and quite fittingly translates as a “Gift from God”.

Ratu and Andatu getting some much needed rest together.

About sixty pounds soaking wet – which he was – the young rhino displayed signs of good health right from the start.  He eagerly began nursing from his mother in the customized boma (enclosure) that was constructed especially for this event, where both animals will have controlled access to the forest while being monitored 24 hours a day via closed-circuit cameras.  Mom will continue to feed on a varied diet of native tropical forest plants and fruits, while baby will suckle milk from her that is apparently lower in solids, proteins and fats than horse, cow or deer milk, but higher in sugar content.  Slowly but surely, Andatu will also sample the surrounding vegetation and learn to identify different solid foods, but he won’t be fully weaned from mother’s milk for at least a year.

One of the first times that Andatu nursed.

If Andatu follows in his father’s footsteps, we can expect him to bulk up in short order.  Andalas was close to a half-a-ton by the time he turned one, and today he’s nearly double that – a little more than the weight of a Smart Car.  Both father and son began life at about twice the weight of the average bicycle, but packaged much more compactly.

Andatu exploring with attentive mother, Ratu, always nearby

Assisting the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary’s veterinarian, Dr. Dedi Candra, with the birth were Australian veterinarian Dr. Benn Bryant of the Taronga Conservation Society and Paul Reinhart, a rhino keeper at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden who has assisted with three other captive Sumatran rhino births before this one.  IRF’s executive director, Dr. Susie Ellis, was also on hand for the delivery and took advantage of this rare opportunity to harvest valuable stem cells from the placenta.

Andatu’s birth offers renewed hope for the future of Sumatran rhinos, whose numbers in the wild have dwindled to 200 or less.  Managed breeding at the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary and other special facilities is an integral component in the global management of this species.

This month, in honor of the dedicated fathers and men among us, we are featuring stories of the hard-working members of the Rhino Protection Units in Bukit Barisan Selatan, Ujong Kulon and Way Kambas National Parks. Meet Aris:

Me, Rhinos and My Family
By Aris Hendriyanto RPU Way Kambas National Park

My name is Aris Hendriyanto.  I have been working as an RPU member since 2005.  Compared with other members of the RPU I am still junior.  Most of them have been with the RPU since 1998 or 2000.  I am still learning to be a ‘true’ RPU member like my seniors in the RPU.  When I joined the RPU, I had just married.  I felt so lucky!  I got a wife and also a job!   

Before joining the RPU, I was a member of a Tiger Patrol Unit (TPU). The RPU chose me out of more than 20 people at the time. Only 3 people from TPU could be an RPU member.  I knew that it would take much hard work to be an RPU member.  I was proud to become a member of the RPU and I served 3 months probation before becoming a full member.

One year later, my baby girl was born!  It was an amazing moment but also hard for me.  As RPU staff I had to leave them to patrol at least 15 days per month and also sometimes with high risk because of contact I may have with poachers.  Before the baby, my wife never complained or asked about my work, but after we had the baby she became a bit worried with my job.  I tried to explain to her and also to the rest of my big family.  I learned this from my seniors at the RPU because they said this is normal and they had been through the same thing.

I said to my wife and my family that I work for them and for our life and I enjoy my work and am proud to be an RPU member.  I said that I work with a good team with lots of experience and safe strategies for dealing with poachers.

Step by step, year by year I get through life and work with support from them and my RPU.  I try to make my time with family quality time.  I have to try to balance time between my job and my family.  I learn much from my seniors at the RPU.  They have been through the same things as RPU members.  Together at the RPU we try to be the front line for survival of the Sumatran rhino and also the front line for our family. We cannot do this alone.  We need support from many people and particularly from our donors….