Protecting Rhinos

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation (DSWF) have been proud protectors of rhinos since our inception in 1984. We continue today to fight for rhinos across Africa and Asia thanks to your generous support.

Africa - Namibia

The continued presence of more than 20 ground-based ranger teams, in the region under protection in northern Namibia, has continued to keep poaching at bay. The rangers, some of whom are directly funded by DSWF, covered an astounding 53,474 km (more than once around the Earth’s circumference) on foot in the past year – far surpassing the project’s targets for the year. Monitoring and surveillance has confirmed that as the number of regular patrols increased, poaching decreased. The overall number of poaching incidents has dropped by close to 80% compared to the previous 5-year period.

Our partners have trained and equipped five new rhino rangers to conduct monitoring patrols in a different and additional area. Our partner’s expansion into the Nyae Nyae conservancy now means they are protecting an additional 4,000km². Much of this land is very sparsely populated by humans and contains ideal habitat and resources for rhino, with plenty of browse and fresh water. We are hopeful that this expansion project will significantly aid with the recovery of the critically endangered black rhino.

In addition to the new ranger team, a new education team will be based in the area to work closely with communities and provide a reading programme. 11 teachers from Nyae Nyae have been trained in hosting the reading programme ’reading with rhinos’ – which has proven to be extremely successful across the region’s other areas over the past few years. These teachers will work at seven local schools in the Nyae Nyae conservancy, positively impacting over 250 children.

A new ranger welfare programme is yielding good results and is well received by staff and rangers. The programme has now trained over 70 rhino rangers and staff in basic first aid. This important initiative also provides rangers with medical support whilst in the field. This is done by providing fully stocked first aid kits and basic first aid training, and access to a doctor who conducts health screening for rangers.

Asia

DSWF funding has provided field equipment and fuel support to 253 members of village defence patrols working in rhino and tiger bearing areas in Assam. No rhinos were poached in Assam in the whole of 2022, a fantastic achievement. But sadly, one rhino was killed by a poacher in Kaziranga National Park earlier this year.

Using sniffer dogs has proven to be an effective conservation method in apprehending poachers and acting as a deterrent. Our funding for our partners in India allows them to deploy several K9 Unit dogs who accompany rangers on patrols. The K9 unit has recently expanded, with the addition of two new K9 dogs (Nova and Harley) who have spent the last 12 months undergoing intensive training. Nova has now been fully deployed into the field with handler Dhrubajyoti, and Harley will follow her into the field soon. 

41 ‘Rhino and Tiger Goes to School’ days took place in Assam, reaching a total of 6,020 children. Two longer and more intensive education activities also took place, with the aim of giving participating children in-depth knowledge of conservation and the importance of wildlife. One Nature Camp also took place – a three day long residential camp for 300 students which involved classroom-based activities as well as nature walks and safaris. A summer Nature Camp was also held – an immersive 25-day programme in the school holidays, which all the attending students enjoyed.

With your support, we can continue to protect rhinos across Africa and Asia.

Our ground-based conservation partners in Namibia are thrilled to report over 30 months without poaching in the region. With our support, they continue to work hard protecting a vital population of desert-adapted black rhino distributed over a 25,000km² area. These rhinos form the largest rhino population to persist outside a formally protected area anywhere on the planet. Our teams’ regular patrols also ensure the safety of other threatened species in this region, thus increasing wildlife population numbers and biodiversity in the landscape.

Ongoing and long-term support from DSWF has enabled our partners to improve operations, increase patrol efforts, and provide vital support to communities whilst reducing poaching and improving ranger welfare. During the last 12 months, our partners have been able to embark on several new initiatives – encompassing community outreach, ranger welfare, and an expansion of the rhino ranger programme in a new landscape. These initiatives will remain the focus for 2023.

DSWF’s Chief Operating Officer, Roddy Hamblin, has recently returned from a project visit to Namibia and kindly shared the following on his experience, after spending a week with the rangers in the field.

“My initial comments after my week in Namibia, working alongside the conservation team on the ground, is just how difficult a terrain this is to operate in, let alone survive in if you are a large herbivore. At times I wondered whether the moon might be more hospitable than the Namibian desert.

At the end of another long period of drought, few springs remain (by which I mean small puddles), providing water to desert wildlife. This is resulting in more movement of rhinos and overlapping of previous territories. It has now been scientifically proven, albeit it is not known how it happens, that these desert-adapted black rhinos will increase fertility in years where more rain is anticipated, and indeed there are several new calves in the region, including one for Inka, DSWF’s rhino ambassador, which is exciting and promising.

The rhino rangers continue in their efforts to track, monitor, and record rhino sightings to keep abreast of the population numbers and movements, while also acting as a deterrent to would-be poachers through their presence. The ongoing success of the project is undoubtedly down to the efforts to give rhinos a positive financial value to the local communities. Employment, rhino sighting bonuses, and increased tourism are all bringing some income to an area very devoid of opportunity. Pride in the rhinos is continuing to be instilled through the educational outreach programme and it was heartening to hear of school children who aspired to one day become rhino rangers.

The opportunity to spend some time among these dedicated men and women who battle extreme climate and conditions every day to ensure the safety of this small but precious population of desert-adapted black rhinos, was humbling and inspiring. Most of all, the chance to see a large keystone species living successfully outside of the boundaries of a national park and under the protection of local people was a conservation career highlight, and a model that can provide a template for the successful reintroduction of endangered species back into former ranges.” - Roddy Hamblin, Chief Operating Officer, DSWF

With your support, we can continue to ensure this vital population of black rhino remain safe and protected.

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