WATCH | Private rhino owners bear the brunt of protecting wildlife

There was a time when 19 rhino could be seen roaming freely next to the R102 in the Eastern Cape (the road between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp).

Now there are only three in the area, and not one of them a bull, which is what the Kouga Rhino Sanctuary needs to achieve their goal.

With poaching rife and a prolonged gestation period the future for rhino in SA is looking grim. 

According to Johan Lottering, the founder of the Kouga Rhino Sanctuary in Jeffreys Bay, the need for funding to prevent rhino from extinction is dire, especially for those who own rhino privately. 

“Every second person owns a non-profit organisation to save rhino, but none of that money goes to the private rhino owners. Where that money really goes we don't know.

“It's grave. They are not going to last. If it wasn't for the private rhino owners there would hardly be any left. Despite that we bear the brunt of the problems because we have to generate our own funds.”

Very few rhino survive outside national parks and reserves. This is due to persistent poaching and habitat loss over many decades. Most rhino in SA are privately owned and the owners bear the brunt of protecting the endangered mammal from extinction. 

Ten rhino have been poached on the Lombardini game farm in the past 15 years. Lottering says after attempting to keep wild rhino safe in an enclosure, seven died of infection, leaving only three on the farm.

Over the past 15 years, 10 rhino have been poached on Lottering's farm. The last one in 2018/19 when a rhino known as Hope became an international symbol for the rhino crisis. Lottering has since implemented costly security measures to protect the three rhino left on the farm.

Lottering estimates increased costs since security has been implemented are R45,000 per month to protect three rhino. 

He told TimesLIVE if the private sector doesn't step in to save the rhino, SA then the world can say their goodbyes.

What started out as a “hobby” later became non-profit. In an attempt to raise awareness about the plight of rhino, Lottering founded the Kouga Rhino Sanctuary. 

“Just like some people like fishing and hunting, rhino have become my pet hobby.” 

To educate people about rhino, the sanctuary offers rhino encounters. Game ranger Justin Terblanche spent 18 months with three wild rhino on the farm. He was dubbed the “rhino whisperer” and is the only person at the sanctuary who can take people to see the rhino up close and touch their horns.

“They carry a baby for 16 months then they deliver. Then they can only have another baby in two-and-a-half to three years, so it takes a very long time to get new rhino. The speed the poachers are killing them, we are losing our rhino,” Terblanche said.

“Our aim is to get different bloodlines ... and increase the rhino from that.”

Lottering suggested a controversial alternative: “It would be wonderful for everybody, including the future of the rhino, if we could sell rhino horn. But that is illegal.

“By letting the rhino farmers shear a part of the horn off and sell it, it will put them in a better position for the up-keep and future of the species.” 

The anti-poaching unit that patrols the farm and remains anonymous due to safety concerns, told TimesLIVE about the brutality involved in rhino poaching.

“In 2019 we lost about 250 rhino. Rhino poaching is a big thing going to the Asian market ... at any moment they can come and they come with big guns, like AK47s ... to lose their lives for that money.”

“I am now more comfortable getting a bull. I didn't want to do that until we could ensure a safe environment for the rhino,” said Lottering.

TimesLIVE

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