By the Minnesota Zoo
Who could be considered black rhinos’ best friends? That would be the Rhino Rangers, a dedicated group of expert professionals who provide crucial data to conservation biologists and have greatly helped reduce black rhino poaching.
Rhino Rangers have their work cut out. They closely follow these large animals that freely roam across more than 5 million acres of arid landscape in the African nation of Namibia, detect where black rhinos nibble on euphorbia bushes (one of the few foods available in the dry, harsh environment) and yet stay far enough away not to alarm the fleet-footed beasts that can run faster than any track star.
The results of their dedication are clear. When local community members and conservationists come together, both people and black rhinos benefit. Read on to learn about who else is helping protect black rhinos.
Black rhino conservation efforts local and abroad
From the other side of the Atlantic, accredited Association of Zoos and Aquarium (AZA) zoos, like the Minnesota Zoo, have the back of black rhinos and Namibian communities, too.
Zoos have come together through a program called AZA Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) Black Rhino to save this critically endangered animal. Decimated by poachers to sell rhino horns on the black market, the black rhino population dwindled to nearly 2,500 by the mid-1990s. Thanks to conservation efforts, the species has been brought back from the brink of extinction. But there is still much work to be done to secure a brighter future for black rhinos.
Founded in 2015, SAFE Black Rhino aims to improve conservation outcomes for black rhino by strengthening connections and support between partner zoos and field-based organizations in Africa. For the last decade, SAFE Black Rhino has concentrated its support in Namibia, where over one-third of the world’s remaining black rhinos survive and has prioritized initiatives to include a strong focus on local communities.
Black rhino conservation in Namibia
SAFE Black Rhino bolsters the remarkable fieldwork and research of Save the Rhino Trust in northwest Namibia. This nonprofit has pioneered some of Africa’s most successful community engagement campaigns that forge links between local people and wild populations of black rhino in the surrounding area.
Jeff Muntifering, Ph.D. of the Minnesota Zoo, serves as co-vice program leader of SAFE Black Rhino and science advisor to Save the Rhino Trust in Namibia.
“The SAFE Black Rhino model has created a unique opportunity for zoos to make a significant impact on the conservation and community engagement efforts in Namibia and beyond,” Muntifering said. “Our work in Namibia over the past decade has demonstrated that engaging and empowering local people in rhino protection can be a powerful force to combat poaching.”
When wildlife conservation links directly to employment for adults, literacy curriculum in schools and extracurricular opportunities for young people, it’s a win for people and rhinos.
“By adopting a community-centered approach, we can secure a better future for both rhino and local people,” he said.
Creativity and community aid rhino conservation
Finding the right formula to support black rhinos took strategic collaboration from many individuals and organizations, a journey that uncovered encouraging community involvement increases engagement.
“Initially, we had a real science focus here in Namibia, looking into the impact of tourism and rhino ecology,” Muntifering said. “Then we transitioned into support for the Rhino Ranger program, and now after more than 10 years, we expanded into broader community engagement.”
Community engagement supporting black rhinos is taking many forms, including through a reading curriculum, a rhino-themed sports program and a musical movement amplified by popular Namibian musicians and social media influencers.
In the Reading with Rhinos project, students are building literacy and relationships with rhinos. In the second year of the program, the number of students tripled and more teachers have the tools to support emerging readers.
And the Rhino Cup Champions League is one of Africa’s largest rural youth soccer leagues for boys and girls, who are cheered on by a beloved rhino mascot.
Through these innovative programs, young Namibians deepen their emotional connections to rhinos and see opportunities to improve the lives of people and wildlife at the same time.
Coming together to protect rhinos
The life of a rhino takes grit. The work of rhino conservationists takes grit, too — and a community that cares.
“The work is challenging, expensive and yet immensely rewarding,” Muntifering said. “Black rhinos face an array of threats, and their future remains tenuous. Saving this species requires close collaboration among all partners and individuals involved and invested in their future.”
As these partners — on both sides of the Atlantic — grow even closer together on behalf of the black rhino, hope springs in the Namibian desert.
World Rhino Day highlights the critical need for rhino conservation. Watch this video as Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild Co-Host Peter Gros talks about the importance of protecting all rhino species.
