Leading the Fight
to Save the Rhino
A
t the end of 2011, while much of Africa was taking time off to
celebrate the holiday season, there was one group of individuals
that worked harder than ever: rhino poachers. poachers rang in 2012
having killed at least 448 rhinos from south Africa, where 93 percent
of the continent's rhinos reside.
throughout 2011, nGos and wildlife authorities were implementing
efforts to address the dramatic rise in poaching. What was missing
in these piecemeal measures, however, was a comprehensive
response to an issue that had reached crisis levels.
More had to be done
AWF, too, had been providing its own rhino support across the
continent. via activities like training community wildlife scouts
(see p. 34), helping to relocate white rhinos from south Africa to
Zambia's mosi-oa-tunya national park, and partnering with the
Kenya Wildlife service (KWs) for more than a decade to conserve
east Africa's black rhino subspecies at the ngulia rhino sanctuary,
AWF had been engaged in rhino conservation since the 1980s.
But clearly more had to be done.
As a nairobi-based, pan-African organization whose work is rapidly
expanding beyond our historical nine heartlands, it made sense for
AWF to lead in developing a much-needed continent-wide approach
to directly address the rhino poaching issue. AWF in collaboration
with KWs convened a two-day, emergency rhino summit in April
2012. Attended by wildlife authorities, private rhino reserve owners,
wildlife trade experts, and other representatives from more than
25 organizations and eight countries--Botswana, Kenya, namibia,
south Africa, tanzania, United states, Zambia, and Zimbabwe--the
rhino summit resulted in a plan of action aimed at stemming Africa's
rhino poaching (see right).
Guided by the action plan, AWF quickly provided funding for several
new initiatives, including expansion of a KWs sniffer dog program
that will ultimately be employed elsewhere on the continent, black
rhino conservation in Zimbabwe's save conservancy (see p. 10 for
information on AWF's other work in Zimbabwe), and development
of a public awareness campaign in china (see p. 39).
Approaching the end of 2012, at least 633 rhinos were poached in
south Africa alone. AWF's resolve remains stronger than ever, and
we will continue to strengthen our efforts and work collaboratively
with partners to save the rhino--but battling the organized crime
entities responsible for these horrific numbers will take the unified
efforts of nGos, governments, and people around the world.
HOW TO SAVE THE RHINO
The action plan drafted at the Rhino
Summit provided a four-step plan
for saving the rhino.
u
2012 proved to be a difficult year for Africa's
rhinos, prompting AWF to convene an
emergency Summit where stakeholders
discussed ways to end the slaughter.
Help save the rhino and other African wildlife:
Visit awf.org/ARdonate
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