Six black rhino from Addo Elephant National Park have been translocated to Chad as part of an agreement between the two countries.
Environmental Affairs Minister, Edna Molewa, on Thursday, witnessed the loading and departure of the rhino on an Antonov plane, accompanied by a team of vets that will care for them during the 15-hour flight from Port Elizabeth Airport.
The Department of Environmental Affairs said in a statement that the translocation of the rhino followed the signing of two memoranda of understanding between Minister Molewa and Chad’s Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr Ahmat Mbodou, last October.
The one agreement related to cooperation in the field of Biodiversity Conservation and Management.
“The signing of the custodianship agreement for rhino between the two countries marked another step towards a pledge that had been made in 2013 by then President Jacob Zuma to President Idris Deby to translocate and reintroduce black rhinoceros to Chad,” the Department said.
Minister Molewa said the two Agreements further strengthens the already good bilateral relations that exist between South Africa and Chad.
“By establishing a viable and secure rhino population of rhino in Chad, we are contributing to the expansion of the rhino population in Africa, and the survival of a species that has faced high levels of poaching for the past decade,” Molewa said.
The translocation of the black rhino is a collaboration between the Department of Environmental Affairs, the Government of Chad, SANParks and the African Parks Foundation.
“The rhino are being translocated to the Zakouma national park that has experienced a dramatic decrease in poaching since 2010, with the local elephant population increasing for the first time in more than a decade. The last black rhino in Chad was noted in the 1970s in Zakouma.”
“The MOU signed between Minister Mahamat and us in October established a bilateral custodianship arrangement between our countries, which means the rhino will be placed under the protective care of the Republic of Chad and that any calves born will belong to Chad, but can be used to establish new rhino populations within the continent in line with the African Rhino Range States Conservation Plan,” Molewa said.
She said the translocation is but one of the interventions being implemented by South Africa a part of the Integrated Strategic Management of Rhinoceros Approach,” added Minister Molewa.
(Image: Rhino.org)
