 October 30th was a very, very exciting day and a dream come true for a few of us, because black rhino were returned to their former range within the CCF Reserve lands. A 3 ½ year old female was delivered by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Animal Capture Team and released within the 12,500ha (31,000 acre) CCF Rhino Reserve. The young female is the first of six rhino that will be placed at CCF as part of a government Custodian Program.The female was born in Etosha National Park. She wandered off the park about three weeks ago and the Ministry thought it better to relocate her to CCF than return her to the Park (which has a robust population of black rhino).  She appears to be healthy and, as a young female, will probably not object to being alone for awhile before other rhino arrive. She is fitted with a transmitter in her horn which will facilitate our monitoring her movements. Black rhino are browsers and should thrive on the acacia and related bushes on the Reserve. They drink at least every second day. While the Capture team veterinarians were a little concerned that she was dehydrated when captured this morning, upon release this afternoon she immediately drank from and waded through water in one of the dams where she was released.
The next day, a second Etosha-escapee arrived. He is a 5 1/2 year-old male and appears to be in excellent condition too. The rhino reserve is a collaborative effort involving CCF and neighbors Carl Hilker and Harry Schneider-Waterberg. We are so very excited and wanted to share this with you. Thanks to all of you for helping CCF – the cheetah’s helping the rhino will have huge rewards for both the species’ future. I am attaching a couple photos of the exciting day!!!!! Wish you all were here to be a part of this historic day. All the very best, Laurie |
Donations made here are
Mar 3rd Haishin O USD 15.00
5 Comments
Great news! Please keep us updated on their progress.
That’s such fantastic news! I really admire your conservation efforts for Cheetahs and now Rhinos – that’s awesome. Hope the new rhinos settle in nicely in the new reserve. All the best
I thought that this rhino was very exciting!!! This was the first time I’ve ever seen one.
Great news, thanks for sharing.
This is fantastic news, if only more people were as dedicated as you.
well done may your ventures flourish