The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports on efforts to protect the sub-species of the critically endangered black rhino, which lives on land lacking any formal conservation status in Namibia's remote Kunene region.
27 March 2012: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reports on a recent foot patrol to track rhinos and deter poaching in Namibia’s Kunene region, where a sub-species of the critically endangered black rhino lives on land lacking any formal conservation status.
The 19-day tracking patrol, funded by the IUCN’s Save Our Species (SOS) initiative in partnership with the Save the Rhino Trust Namibia (SRT), consisted of four teams traversing “one of the most remote and rugged areas” of Namibia. IUCN reports that 53 rhinos were sighted during the patrol, including a female that had walked back to the region after being airlifted 250km away into a conservancy area in 2010. Jeff Muntifering, SRT Director of Research and Evaluation, noted that this was “a very rare long-distance ‘homing’ event for black rhino.”
The main objective of the SOS and SRT project is the “immediate protection” of this subspecies of the critically endangered black rhino (Diceros bicornis bicornis). This protection would extend to the black rhino’s habitat, which currently comprises unfenced, communal and unprotected land in the remote north-west of Namibia.
SOS is a global coalition initiated by IUCN, GEF and the World Bank to establish the largest species conservation fund, supporting on-the-ground field conservation projects all over the world. [IUCN Press Release] [SOS Black Rhino Project]