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| Location: |
Africa - Western Africa - Central African Republic |
| Subject: |
Distribution - Records |
| Species: |
Black Rhino |
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The highest density of black rhino in those areas which were explored was in the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park (an area of 11560 km? gazetted in 1933) and in a region of 1400 km? immediately to the east. Although Corfield and Hamilton (1 971) reported finding only some old tracks in the park, they spent but a brief time in the fringe areas; they did report the rhino as common in the 860 km? Vassako-Bolo Strict Nature Reserve (which is in the centre) although no reason is given for this. When I started studies in the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park in 1976, it soon became apparent to me, based upon experience that I had gained in the Kenya-Aberdares and other rhino areas of East-Africa, that rhino were reasonably abundant. There were snortings outside the tent at night, workers were tree'd, and a rhino came into the game guard students' camp at night. Figure 4 shows plots of some of the fresh tracks and scrapes that I came across. Actual sightings were not common because of the nature of the sudano-guinean woodland, which makes it much more difficult to spot animals than is the case in the more open vegetation of eastern Africa. In other parts of the country, where the signs were much rarer, one must presume that there must still have been a sufficient density of black rhino to permit breeding contacts to take place (unless, of course, the rhino were already dying out).
Air surveys of the Bamingui-Bangoran Park, conducted by FAO in August 1977, reported a calculated total of 170 ? 70 (Spinage et al., 1977); but in view of the relatively dense vegetation and the fact that the survey was flown with a low-wing aircraft at 200 kph, I consider, from my ground contacts, that the real total was probably closer to 600 (a density of 0.05 rhino/ km? ). Subsequent counts conducted in the area to the east of the park, where the density was thought to be high, suggested a population of 60 ? 20 (IUCN, 1981), or a density of 0.04 rhino/ km? . To this we must add the fact that the rhino occurred at a lesser density over some 170.000 km? ; so assuming this density to be, say, one quarter of that in the centre of concentration (equivalent to 150 in the park),we arrive at a possible total of 2125 for the rest of the country. Adding to this those in the park and the adjacent area, and rounding off, I suggested that there might be 3000 in the whole country in 1981. Subsequent studies in the Manovo-Counda-Saint Floris area to the north of the Bamingui-Bangoran area revealed a much higher density than had been supposed: about 0.03 rhino/ km? in the 770 km? study area (Hulberg and Carroll, 1982). Thus I am reasonably confident of my somewhat tenuous extrapolation, considering that the vast area concerned was for the most part almost completely unknown biologically. However, an alternative total of 440 has been proposed (IUCN, 1981) based upon a 1953 guess of 400 (Sidney, 1965), when the country was even less known that it is today. Whatever the true total may have been, it has undoubtedly been greatly reduced since the beginning of 1982.
During an air survey conducted in May-June 1985 by FAO/IUCN, no rhino were seen from the air, despite an intensive survey at 15% coverage of the former high-concentration area to the east of the Bamingui-Bangoran Park. Tracks seen at the beginning of 1985 show that the odd animal still exists in the southeast of the Manovo-Gounda-Saint Floris Park, and in the hunting sector near Ouanda Djall?, and rhino probably still exist in the Bamingui-Bangoran area. But it is feared that the species will become extinct in the Central African Republic in 1986, as the intensity of poaching by Sudanese horsemen, primarily in search of ivory, is at a level that can only be termed anarchic.
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The rhinos of the Central African Republic
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