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The Chad Rhino Translocation

Background

The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Edna Molewa, and the Minister of Environment and Fisheries of the Republic of Chad, Dr Ahmat Mbodou Mahamat, in October 2017 signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Management in Pretoria. The Ministers had also signed a Memorandum which allows for the translocation of black rhino from South Africa to Chad as part of an initiative to reintroduce rhino to the African country.

The translocation of black rhino to Chad is a key component of the African Rhino Conservation Plan which has as its principle aim the growth in Continental rhino numbers over the next five years. The establishment of a rhino meta-population in Africa is also part of the Integrated Strategic Management Approach for rhino, in which the management of the rhino population to expand the rhino range and encourage population growth plays an important role. To this effect, SANParks continues to translocate rhino away from high-risk poaching areas.


The Collaboration

A team of experts from South Africa visited Chad in 2017 to assess the habitat, security and management suitability and associated ecological parameters, as well as infrastructural readiness prior to the translocation of black rhinos to Zakouma National Park from South Africa.

This is built on a feasibility study of the proposed translocation undertaken by the IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group in 2015. The Republic of Chad earlier signed an agreement with African Parks Network (APN) which allows APN to manage the country’s national parks. In terms of collaboration, the rhino are being sourced and captured by SANParks in South Africa. Once translocated, African Parks will manage and protect the rhino in Zakouma National Park as part of its overall responsibility for the total management of Zakouma National Park.

Establishing new populations of black rhino in former range states remains a priority of conservation plans to reduce environmental risk and provide conservation flagships.


Translocation

The translocation of the black rhino is being achieved through a collaboration between the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Government of Chad, SANParks and the African Parks Foundation. The rhino are being translocated to the Zakouma National Park that has experienced a dramatic decrease in poaching since 2010, with the local elephant population increasing for the first time in more than a decade.

Zakouma is Chad’s oldest national park, declared as such in 1963 by presidential decree, giving it the highest form of protection available under the nation’s laws. It has been managed by the nonprofit conservation organisation African Parks since 2010.


The Story

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