African Wildlife & Environment Issue 81

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

several Black Rhinos were translocated from the Natal Parks to the KNP. Between 1971 and 1989 a further 81 were brought in to bolster this growing population and ten years later in 1998, another six were added. The Black Rhino population thrived in the KNP and even though their solitary habits dictated that larger territories were needed, there was more than enough suitable habitat to accommodate them, with around a 9% average calf birth rate per annum. Their numbers grew exponentially over the decades. In 1963 the first White Rhinos were translocated to the KNP. Fourteen of these formed the founder population, as this species had become locally extinct in the KNP decades before. Dr Ian Player had returned to Umfolozi Game Reserve in 1958 and had met Magqubu Ntombela,

where they did many anti-poaching patrols together as companions. There was a constant poaching threat from the communities living on the boundaries on the 500 or so rhinos in the protected area of the Game Reserve. A decision was taken by Natal Parks Board to move some of these rhinos to areas where they would be safe and could form founder populations. Dr Player along with a dedicated team from Natal Parks Board (NPB) then experimented with different drug combinations, to find the most effective way of capturing and relocating these rhinos to other reserves across the country. The NPB, with its men of vision, was very instrumental, through these enthusiastic individuals making up the team, in preventing the early extinction of particularly the southernWhite Rhino, in South Africa.

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