Tale guide

Connecting with Rhino

Connecting with the Rhino

Rhinos have existed on Earth for over 50 million years and today are the second largest land mammals after Elephant. But the demand for Rhino horn, particularly in Asia, is huge because it is widely and falsely believed to be a cure for cancer as well as an aphrodisiac. More recently it has become a status symbol and the horn is associated with financial wealth (yet still with cultural medicinal usage).

Rhino horn from both white and black species attracts prices in excess of USD55 000/kg which is significantly more than the price of gold or diamonds or even cocaine.

Anti-poaching initiatives have evolved dramatically over the past decade and the drive to protect these magnificent animals attracts millions of dollars in private and public funding worldwide.

The war against Rhino poaching is waged with sophisticated, military-like precision and resource throughout South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Kenya in both state and privately-owned protected areas.

Once roaming the plains of North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, the populations of Rhino in the wild have been mostly eradicated in all but Africa and to a much lesser extent, in Asia where one-horned Javan and Sumatran Rhino populations still exist.

The square-lipped Rhino is the largest of the two African species, and is commonly known as the White Rhino, a name that evolved from the German word “weit’ meaning wide. 80% of the remaining population of this animal are found in South Africa.

Even though approximately 400 animals are killed by poachers annually, down from a peak of 1300, today the population of between 19, 000 and 21, 000 Rhino are found in protected areas and private game reserves and have now been reclassified as ‘near threatened’, a far cry from the less than one hundred animals that existed in the late eighteen hundreds.

Similarly, the total Black Rhino population has grown from 2, 410 in 1995 to over 5,000 today.

With the advent of the Corona Virus pandemic, Africa witnessed a resurgence of organised, syndicated poaching and in order to counter this, game conservationists increased their activity of removing the Rhino horn.

The practice is safe and painless, and the horn does regrow. But without the horn, the attraction for poachers is removed and the animal’s life expectancy is greatly improved. Poaching numbers in 2020 were the lowest in the past 10 years aided by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic on human movement and international travel which made distribution difficult.

Last week, a group of the Connect’s Sales and Marketing leadership was invited to enter this exciting world of selfless environmentalists and the ongoing war that they tirelessly wage for the preservation of these magnificent beasts.

In addition to the value that team building offers in such a unique wildlife environment, the team joined in and helped to dehorn ten of the resident Rhino on a private game ranch in South Africa’s Waterberg region.

Many of the team had never had the privilege of going behind the scenes in the bush before, which made the experience that much more breath taking, making the excursion a never-to-be-forgotten experience for everyone.

For one of the team, Sumay Dippenaar, the first Rhino dehorning was an immensely emotional experience. She tells of how, for her, the excitement of the hunt, the darting of the animal and then the effort that everyone had to make to roll the two-tonne body onto its side, became evidently a very dangerous and serious experience for the Rhino itself.

Although the animal did not endure any pain as such, the measured supply of oxygen required to be administered by the wildlife veterinary doctors, the actual removal of the horn and the subsequent procedure of bringing the Rhino through recovery and back onto its legs, all combined to create a perception of a trauma that, under any other circumstance, would never be necessary for the poor animal to endure, and it brought Sumay to tears.

For another of the team, Gerhard le Roux, it was such an unexpected and profound ‘bucket list’ experience that wasn’t even on his bucket list because it was so far removed from a possibility, that he never even thought it could happen.

He said afterwards, “One minute we were in the city, working through spreadsheets, closing sales, or providing guidance to a young colleague, and the next, we were in the wild, touching one of those magnificent creatures. It was such a surreal experience that was so much more than I imagined. In retrospect, the realisation of being a part of the process of protecting such beautiful and endangered animals, even for a day, and in so doing, making a difference however small, for generations to come, was very humbling.”

Charged by a Rhino!

My thanks to Lauren Rayne for sharing their experience which also triggered a memory of when I was charged by a Black Rhino while attending a company conference in my previous life, in the Ithala Game Reserve, back in the early nineties.

Ithala is a national park that lies in the foothills of the Ngotshe Mountains about 400 kilometres north of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal.

Because of its geographic location, it boasts a variety of vegetation from dense foliage along the rivers to high lying grassland plateaus that undulate into the distance until they meet the mountain ridges and cliffs. Noticeably, the grass topped hills are virtually devoid of shrubbery or trees to speak of.

The hotel in Ithala itself, is built on the side of a mountain, offering spectacular views over the rolling hills and valleys below.

On our first night, a small group of six of us decided to take the rangers up on an invitation to go on an early morning breakfast walk. Just before sunrise the following morning, we climbed onto the back of an open bakkie and taken down the mountain to the valley below.

Before we left the vehicle on foot, the ranger set us up in single file, and I found myself positioned directly behind him. He gave us a briefing on how one should conduct oneself in the bush. We needed to keep quiet. If he lifted his hand, we should stop and stand still and await further instructions. He told us that Rhino have poor eyesight but have well developed senses of hearing and smell.

We set off in single file on the premise that we were in good hands and in any event, those kinds of things never happen to us.

After a steady walk through the grasslands during which time I noted that the ranger constantly kept us walking into a light breeze, we approached a shallow valley at the bottom of which ran a mountain stream, bounded by thick outcrops of reeds on its banks.

As we got closer, the reeds directly in front of me parted, and a ‘giant’ of a black Rhino launched itself in my direction with its head down and horn up while snorting its discontent.

The Ranger held up his hand. We froze like statues in the snow. The Rhino came to an abrupt stop, head still down and looking straight into my eyes.

In hindsight, I guess the Rhino couldn’t see us very well and as we were upwind of him, he couldn’t smell us either. But at the time, the animal and I stood in complete silence eyeing each other out, and I didn’t so much as breath.

Softly, ensuring that his voice would not carry forward, the ranger turned his head slightly towards us and said, “if he charges, find a tree!”

I instinctively looked around for a suitable tree, but as mentioned before, there weren’t any for as far as the eye could see.

The Rhino eventually turned around and trundled off down the hill and out of sight and I lived to see another day.

Upon reflection of the Connected outing, I was moved by the fact that the team building initiative in the Waterberg was another inspired example of the way that Connect South Africa continues to break new ground, connecting potential in areas that empower and grow its people.

If you want to get involved, one of the websites one can visit is 

https://www.savetherhino.org/get-involved