Preserving Rhinos and Combating their Decline
Over 500km from Johannesburg, in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of South Africa, through various towns and hours of bushland, is Kruger National Park. The two-million‑hectare reserve in the low-lying savanna is one of the largest in Africa and offers a diverse range of wildlife, including the big-five game animals; lions, leopards, elephants, and buffalos, and rhinos, which in Kruger makes up almost 50% of South Africa’s rhino population. The reserve welcomes many adventurous visitors hoping to encounter the reserve’s wildlife. Yet, curious tourists are not the only guests; the park is also home to the scientists who help preserve the wildlife population. We spoke to wildlife ecologist Zoe Nhleko about her extensive experience studying the impact of climate and poaching on Kruger National Park’s rhino population.
Kruger National Park, South Africa, Photo by David Tomaseti on Unsplash
Poaching poses a significant threat to biodiversity and the population of many endangered species worldwide. Its signs are evident at Kruger National Park with the decline of rhino numbers. Zoe and her team predict there will be a significant reduction of around 35% in Kruger’s rhino population in the next ten years. To prevent this, conservation efforts are currently being implemented throughout the park. This is where Zoe’s research is essential. For five years, Zoe lived at Kruger National Park and conducted her research amongst the wildlife to ultimately report on the effects of poaching on the park’s rhinos.
Kruger National Park, South Africa, Zoe Nhleko
It is 5 am, and Zoe rises early to begin her days’ work. Sometimes on foot, other times by 4WD, Zoe traverses the lands searching for rhino middens: the name given to dung heaps or communal areas where rhinos defecate. Interestingly, Zoes explains that middens are also used as a form of communication within the rhino community. Upon identifying a midden, Zoe collects samples that are processed for analysis. These midden samples are critical for Zoe’s research as she explains that they can help elucidate the physiological effects that poaching has on the rhinos. By analysing faecal samples, she can quantify glucocorticoid metabolites and determine the levels of stress hormones. These measurements can then be used to assess the impact of poaching between rhinos from high- and low-level poaching areas. This analysis provides a non-invasive method of identifying stress levels and their causes without the confound of additional stress from the study. Another aspect of Zoe’s research was to understand the effects of poaching on spatial distribution to establish whether rhinos shift away from areas with high levels of poaching.
Kruger National Park, South Africa, Zoe Nhleko
“Overall, what we wanted to know is what we could do on the ground as managers to make sure that Rhinos are still able to reproduce and live out their lives. The hope is that if you provide a good enough environment for them, then they can have as many babies as they can. So we’re hoping they can keep reproducing even though they are being poached”.
Kruger National Park, South Africa. Photo by Jean Wimmerlin on Unsplash
In the field, Zoe also carries telemetry equipment that helps her track and pinpoint rhino locations. Zoe observes and determines the overall condition of each rhino, but while doing so, she is not alone. She explains the possible dangers that exist in big-five territory, and potential risks are not limited to animals but also include the rugged terrain. Travelling with Zoe is a game guard, a person who ensures her safety. With no cellular reception and only a radio by her side, this person is there to help if she is injured or incapacitated. As Zoe and her accompanying game guard traverse the park, they are enveloped by the bushland. There is a possibility of animal sightings, such as with elephant herds, zebra, antelope, lions, and the more elusive leopards. Zoe says, “You get to see animals more naturally when you do fieldwork because you’re driving off-road. Off the main tourist road. You’re in the field, and you get to see animals do their own thing because sometimes you’re in one spot for a very long time and animals forget you are there. The chances of seeing actual interactions are higher than if you are sitting in a tourist car. It’s lovey; it’s getting to experience wildlife in a cool way. Our national park has really awesome landscapes, so just getting to be in that and knowing that not any two days are going to be the same.”.
“Maybe tomorrow you’ll actually get to see a lion or maybe a leopard! It’s quite amazing; it’s an experience.”
When asked if she had had any unexpected close encounters with animals, Zoe stated that “In Kruger, there is more bush, and black rhinos prefer bush, so it becomes really tricky if you’re going to be walking because then you might walk into one without seeing it first. One time we were looking for a black rhino that had a tracking collar, and the telemetry started pinging to suggest it was too close. There was a bush in front of us, and it was right there. Then we walked back, and I climbed a tree, and it was literally there, on the other side of the lower bush. That could have been interesting. Then the rhino realised we were there, and it wasn’t moving away from the tree. We were breaking off branches from the tree and throwing them on the ground. Eventually, it left, but it didn’t move too far because we could still hear it close. There’s always a story like that with black rhinos.”
Kruger National Park, South Africa. Photo by Joel Herzog on Unsplash
Zoe’s research into the impact of poaching on rhinos at Kruger National Park may have significant implications for their future and for preserving their numbers. Her conservation efforts also present Zoe with incredible experiences that she highly values. And though Zoe loves her work, it is exhausting. Thus, taking the time to relax is also critical. In the early afternoon and at the end of a busy workday, Zoe returns to her home at the park where she may spend her evening catching up with friends over a braai among the evidence of a recently passing elephant herd and the distant sound of cackling hyenas.