14 critically endangered black rhino have been released into an undisclosed location as the WWF-EKZNW range expansion project continues.
Thanks to the project partnership between the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife (EKZNW) to protect and expand black rhino populations, 14 additional black rhino are now in their new home.
Last month, nine black rhino were airlifted to a new home as part of the range expansion project. However, due to the danger posed by poachers, the location of the rhino must remain undisclosed.
According to the Independent Online, WWF project leader Dr. Jacques Flamand said that donations made it possible for the black rhinos’ protected areas to be increased by over 25 percent. There are plans for 80 black rhino to be released into the project’s range expansion areas.
Black rhino population
The brutal illegal slaughter for rhino horn decimated the black rhino population from 65,000 in 1973 to a low of about 2,300 in 1993.
Because of conservation efforts, the black rhino population has slowly increased to approximately 4,240.
Tragically, rhino poaching is at a 15-year high. This is attributed to the insatiable appetite for rhino horn in China, where an unfortunate superstition attributes healing powers to the rhino’s horn, claiming it relieves pain and reduces fever (not as an aphrodisiac).
Now that rising incomes in China have made illegal rhino horn attainable for an unprecedented number of people, these animals are in grave danger of extinction.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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