Malpas, R., 1983. Rehabilitate Garamba. Newsletter of the African Elephant and Rhino Group 2: 18-19
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| Location: |
Africa - Eastern Africa - Sudan |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
White Rhino |
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Plans for cottoni by IUCN Rhino Group. In the last issue of this Newsletter, Dr. Kes Hillman presented a status report on the Northern White rhino in Sudan and Zaire, and drew attention to the precarious status of the sub-species and the need for urgent conservation action. As a result of Dr. Hillman's survey work, it appeared that the only viable population of Northern Whites was to be found in the Garamba National Park in north-east Zaire on the border with Sudan. Here, too, the situation was critical, with just 15-20 rhinos surviving, according to an aerial survey carried out by Dr. Markus Borner of the Frankfurt Zoological Society in conjunction with Dr. Hillman and the Zaire authorities.
A few weeks after the aerial survey in Garamba, AERSG members met in Harare, Zimbabwe on April 13th, and one of the main items on the agenda was Garamba. After lengthy debate, the meeting concluded that the priorities established at the Rhino and Elephant Specialist Groups' meeting at Wankie in 1981 remained unchanged, and that the conservation of the Northern White rhino was still of the highest priority. The Harare meeting viewed the survival of this sub-species as a test case for the effectiveness of conservation action in Africa, and recommended 3 main courses of action:-
1. that an approach should be made to the Zaire authorities to allow the transiocation of a breeding nucleus from Garamba to the United States.
2. that law enforcement capabilities in Garamba should be upgraded, commencing with the immediate posting of an effective law enforcement officer to the Park.
3. that efforts should be made to search for and relocate outlying individuals within the former range of the Northern White rhino.
The meeting considered that translocation of the surviving Northern Whites in Garamba into captivity presented the only viable alternative to save the sub-species at this critical stage. In situ action was considered far too risky because of the very low numbers remaining, the concensus being that the rhino population was already well below the threshold level for survival in the wild. The meeting recommended that the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria, AAZPA (which was already drawing up contingency plans for the transiocation, reception and management of the White rhinos to the United States in conjunction with AERSG Chairman Dr. David Western), should make a high-level approach to the Zaire's authorities to secure their approval for the operation. In turn the meeting requested IUCN to initiate field action to rehabilitate Garamba and to search for outlying rhinos.
Others were less certain of the advisability of translocating the rhinos. The Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), whose representative Dr. Markus Borner played a leading role in the Garamba survey, felt that, however desirable, translocation of the rhinos to the USA was unlikely to be a politically viable option. FZS recommended an alternative course of action: captive propagation within Zaire - perhaps within Gararnba National Park itself - with high security protection and expert care.
A third option was put forward by Drs. Kes Hillman and Patrick Rogers (UNDP Chief Technical Advisor to the Zaire Institute for the Conservation of Nature, IZCN). They main- tained that conservation of the White rhino in situ was not only a viable alternative, but was also the only politically acceptable and ecologically sound approach. In their view, conservation of the Northern Whites was more than just a matter of conserving the gene pool (which indeed could be achieved equally well in a captive situation) but of conserving the sub-species as an integral part of the Garamba ecosystem. In addition, the proponents maintained that conservation of the White rhino in situ was essential because of the symbolic nature of the rhino as far as national conservation efforts in Zaire are concerned. It was this option which IZCN appeared to favour most.
Finally, a compromise position was advocated by AERSG Chairman, David Western, whereby an ?end-point' for rhino numbers would be established. In this scenario, all concerned parties would agree in advance to a critical minimum number at which all field efforts to save the sub-species would cease, and captive propagation ensue. This proposal has been tentatively discussed with IZCN, who are receptive, although no firm agreement has been reached at this stage.
While the discussions on what specific action should be taken to ensure the survival of the rhino continued, IUCN put the wheels in motion to implement AERSG's second recommendation - the rehabilitation of Garamba - which no-one denied was an essential step. In June, Mankoto ma Mbaelele, Scientific and Technical Director of IZCN, flew to Nairobi together with Pat Rogers, for discussions on the design and implementation of the rehabilitation programme. A project was drafted and endorsed by IUCN and IZCN. Meanwhile, approaches were made to the World Wildlife Fund, Frankfurt Zoological Society and UNESCO's World Heritage Fund to provide funding for the programme, with positive results. By August, a detailed proposal for a $ 440,000 rehabilitation programme had been drafted and submitted to IZCN and IUCN for approval. WWF, FZS and UNESCO had all agreed to meet their share of the cost of the 3-year programme, and arrangements were underway for the purchase and delivery of equipment and supplies called for in the project document. As a stop-gap emergency measure, WWF/IUCN provided IZCN with urgently needed anti-poaching equipment and supplies in order to safeguard the park until the main rehabilitation programme could begin.
At the time of writing, final approval for the implementation of the full programme has been given by the Zaire authorities and one of the two expatriate positions called for in the project document, that of Technical Specialist, has been filled. The other post, Senior Management Advisor, has yet to be filled, although a decision is expected shortly. Meanwhile, British Leyland have responded to an urgent appeal from WWF and provided 4 Landrovers at cost price for immediate delivery, thus short-cutting the usual lengthy waiting list which would have delayed start-up by several months. Other urgently needed equipment, such as a complete radio network designed by African Wildlife Foundation's Communications Specialist, Howard Wood, is already on its way to Garamba,
The appointment of the Senior Management Advisor and the signing of the Contract and Project Document between IUCN and IZCN will set the stage for the implementation of the second of AERSG's Harare recommendations, just 7 months later - no mean feat when one considers the slow turning of bureaucratic wheels. Hopefully the project will be in full swing before the dry season in Garamba, so that a start can be made on re-vamping the anti-poaching operations before the poaching intensifies.
The question still remains: what specific actions should be taken to ensure the survival of Gramba's rhinos - the subject of AERSG;s first and priority recommendation? The IZCN/IUCN Rehabilitation Programme is not designed to fulfill this objective and the Project Document clearly states that additional action of some form is necessary if the rhino population is to be saved. What this action should be, and who should carry it out, remains a thorny question, and there is little doubt that the various alternatives will be a topic of lively discussion at the forthcoming AERSG meeting in Nairobi in December.
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Rehabilitate Garamba
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