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In the ongoing drive to save the rhino, a large group was relocated from a key facility in the North West — and one of the co-ordinators of the transfer was none other than Nelson Mandela Bay expert Taryn Gillson.
Gillson, the Gqeberha-based director of Global Humane’s Africa region, said the transfer fell under the organisation’s broader strategy to create “space for species”.
This latest transfer is part of African Parks’ Rhino Rewild initiative, which is an ambitious effort to rewild all 2,000 of the resident animals in the next 10 years.
“The North West facility is home to 15% of the remaining southern white rhino population left in the world,” Gillson said. “This poses a risk if a disease were to break out or a co-ordinated poaching event were to take place, and that is why it’s important to de-risk the species by moving these animals to other protected areas.”
African Parks bought the facility, previously John Hume’s Platinum Rhino Farm, the biggest of its kind in the world, in 2023. The southern white rhino, more commonly known as the white rhino, is distributed across Southern Africa. The northern white rhino sub-species, now functionally extinct, with only two females left, once ranged across north and central Africa.
Gillson said with the latest transfer of 20 white rhinos the recipient reserve was in the north of the country but it could not be named due to security concerns.
“We moved a mix of males, females and some calves. They weren’t part of a single crash, so they’ve dispersed, but they’ve all settled in well.”
She said Rhino Rewild recipient reserves in general benefited from rhinos being introduced for several reasons.
“Genetic integrity is critical for existing rhino groups, ecotourism and local employment is bolstered, and rhinos help restore ecosystems through their activities.”
As grazers, white rhino prevented grass from growing too long and losing its nutritional value. In so doing, they also ensured grasslands retained their ability to absorb carbon dioxide, and thereby countered climate change. At the same time, they created natural fire breaks and habitat for other grazers and birds like longclaws and larks.
Gillson said Global Humane was involved in several rhino conservation initiatives besides this one, mostly in the Eastern Cape. These had been supported since 2012 by the US-based Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, which also supported the latest relocation.
“In my view, one of the most critical conservation challenges of our time is ‘space for species’. So I congratulate reserves that are taking up the responsibility of providing safe spaces for rhinos, in particular.
We plan to bring rhinos back to these landscapes and thereby also boost socioeconomic opportunities for nearby communities. These opportunities and jobs will come through ecotourism and rhino conservation management and security
— Taryn Gillson, Global Humane’s Africa director
“It is costly to keep rhinos safe in a time when their horns are still in high demand in certain markets. Global Humane is working to create new protected areas in the Eastern Cape where wildlife can thrive.
“We plan to bring rhinos back to these landscapes and thereby also boost socioeconomic opportunities for nearby communities. These opportunities and jobs will come through ecotourism and rhino conservation management and security.”
African Parks spokesperson Helen Parks said white rhino were under extreme pressure due to poaching and habitat loss and required well-protected natural landscapes to thrive.
By the 1950s, the species was on the brink of extinction, with only 30 to 40 individuals remaining but, thanks to dedicated conservation efforts, their population rebounded to about 21,000 by 2012.
These efforts were led by Dr Ian Player, founder of the Wilderness Foundation, which is now also based in Gqeberha.
Parks said the surge in poaching over the past decade had been bad news for the white rhino.
“The overall population has been reduced to around 17,500,” she said.
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