Jack Ashton reporting on the protection of the black rhinos of Namibia.

With a population of a little over 6,000, the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) is critically endangered. As is the case for much of Africa’s wildlife, their threats are almost solely anthropogenic and, unfortunately, the most notable of these is poaching for traditional medicines in countries such as China and Vietnam. This has left their numbers dwindling, presenting us with a real chance of losing this charismatic species.

There is, however, one significant stronghold for this species. Introducing: the desert black rhinos of Namibia’s Kunene Region. This unique sub-population roams the expanse of the Namib Desert, displaying adaptations for the challenges of life in this harsh terrain. The greatest challenge they must overcome is the lack of food and water. Incredibly, they have evolved to eat one of the most abundant, yet toxic, plants in the region, the Damara milk bush (Euphorbia damarana). This is an especially impressive evolutionary feat when considering that this plant is poisonous enough to kill most animals, and humans; in fact, the only other species able to eat it is the South African oryx (Oryx gazelle), otherwise known as the gemsbok. Even so, living in a desert means that water and food are not always within close proximity. They must travel great distances in search of food during the night, early morning and evening, returning to their water source every 2-3 days; far less than other black rhino populations. However, they do still spend a significant amount of their time sleeping under shade to escape the midday heat.

It is, of course, true that this population has a natural protection from poaching, coming from the Namib Desert’s near-inhospitable environment. This renders poaching far more challenging, especially when considering the distance that these rhinos can roam. But how do you stop poaching, when this difficulty presented to poachers also presents the same challenge to those protecting it? Unfortunately, this has meant that poaching has still threatened this population in the past, peaking in 2013. This peak, however, coincides perfectly with the establishment of the NGO ‘Save the Rhino Trust ’ (SRT), and the implementation of the amazing work which this charity does. They have allowed the desert black rhinos to remain the world’s only truly wild, free-roaming black rhino population. It seems as though they have worked out the solution to this difficult challenge.

The work that this charity does is astounding, and I was extremely lucky to experience it for myself. They operate in various areas, with community outreach programmes, research projects and special operations (working with governments to obtain increased protection for the rhinos and those protecting them). However, I’d like to focus on the most important, gruelling work they do; tracking and monitoring the rhinos. The first photo on their website’s home page reads, ‘Someone is following me, make sure it is a Save the Rhino Tracker’, summing up their work relatively well. The majority of what they do involves tracking these elusive rhinos through the vastness of the desert. Here, it is perhaps important to mention that while many charities these days track their species using extensive technology, the trackers working for Save the Rhino Trustoperate in stark contrast to this. No tags, no satellites; in fact, the only technology is a GPS to plot the coordinates at which they find a rhino. The difficulty of this task is further exacerbated when taking into account the area that this charity operates in – 25,000km2 of some of the harshest terrain. The only way they track is via natural signs; footprints, broken branches, or poo in mammoth-like proportions. Put quite simply, they follow the footsteps of the rhinos.

On face-value, this may seem like an impossible task; indeed, it is to us and, luckily, most poachers. However, the trackers employed are experts. Being raised in local communities, they come from rural families and have an intricate knowledge of the area, and how to track animals, many having had to track their livestock herds on large household farms. There are several tracking locations near water sources where a tracking team is stationed for a 3-week period, with only tents, food, and a barrel of water. Along with this, each team consists of one or two armed police officers, just in case of the worst-case scenario – a poacher firing at them. Every single morning throughout this period, they walk to the water source and check for signs that a rhino was present in the night. Some days; nothing, during which they head back to the tent where the rest of the day passes by rather tediously. However, most days, they find the faintest trace of a rhino. In this situation, they spend an exhausting day trekking through the desert, following the tracks left behind by the animal. Sometimes, the trail fizzles out and this ends in failure. However, an incredible proportion of the time they find a single male, or mother and calf pair, after following the tracks for up to 20km through the heat of the desert. While the rhinos rest in the shade at midday, the trackers persevere through it. And once they have found it, recorded its location, health condition and ID on paper, they initiate the equally-as-tiring walk back to camp. Just the presence of these trackers and guards in such a widespread area is enough to render this an extremely difficult location for poachers, not to mention the difficulty of the terrain. These trackers spend three weeks deep in the Namib desert with very little outside contact followed by just one week off, before doing it all over again. Their commitment is staggering.

This work pays off. As mentioned previously, many see this black rhino population as a stronghold for the species as a whole, and this is due largely to the success of Save the Rhino Trust Namibia at reducing poaching in this location. The 80% reduction in poaching since their establishment speaks for itself, and this is only improving. With the International Rhino Foundation stating that around 2.4 rhinos were poached each day in Africa in 2019, it is astounding that they could achieve this feat. Its success is contributing to the recent population increase exhibited by black rhinos, leading to the IUCN changing their status; they remain critically endangered, but now their population trend is increasing. This provides cautious hope for the future of this species.

This is, without a doubt, down to the work that Save the Rhino Trust and many other NGOs throughout Africa do to reduce poaching. More specifically, it is down to the sheer hard work that everyone working to protect rhinos puts in. It was a true privilege to experience the passion that each and every person working for this charity has for the rhinos; the rhinos are the most important part of the charity. From the Chief Executive Officer Simson Uri-Khob, who told stories of tracking desert black rhinos with Prince Harry, to the dedicated trackers; each knows the rhinos by name and speaks of them like they would of family. This is not just work for them, they have a genuine love for these amazing animals, and this connection just might be what could continue to save rhinos from poachers well into the future.

For more information, go to Save the Rhino Trust’s website.

This article was updated on 18th January 2024 to reflect the latest data on the population size of the black rhino. At the time of writing, we shared that there were just over 5,500 black rhinos remaining, but this number has now increased to 6,000, according to the World Animal Foundation.

Following the Footsteps of Rhinos

Jack Ashton reporting on the protection of the black rhinos of Namibia.