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| Location: |
Africa - Southern Africa - Botswana |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Status |
| Species: |
White Rhino |
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Melton in 1982 estimated that the population size in Chobe NP and surrounding areas was around 100. The Kalahari Conservation Society in their April 1985 report based on aerial surveys of Northern Botswana put white rhino between 100 and 150. Recent 1987 survey by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks yield a figure around 120.
These estimates are all based on aerial surveys with fixed wing aircraft and could be misleading. To have a more realistic idea of the actual number of white rhino it would be necessary to carry out surveys from helicopters. It has been conclusively demonstrated in the past that surveys of rhinos from fixed wing aircraft are usually very inaccurate. Estimates from fixed wing aircraft often count less than 60% of the rhinos that would be seen from helicopeters, and helicopeters ar their maximum are known to count only 90% of the rhinos actuallty present. The aircraft also were of uniform coverage in multi-species surveys. The white rhino are known to be concentrated in certain preferred habitats and a stratified sampling focused on those areas of high concentration would give a netter picture of the number of rhinos present. This would also reduce the rather large confidence limits that have plagued all past rhino estimates in Northern Botswana.
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Status report: Rhinos in Botswana
File available
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