Rhino Wrangled: Ensuring a Species Survival

The Mkhaya Game Reserve in central Swaziland is dedicated to the preservation of the white and black African rhinocerous. In the 21st century you can only find rhinos in protected areas. The Northern African white has been decimated by civil war and poaching. Last count is there are two left in the Congo. The Indian one horned species is similarly threatened in Nepal and India. One way to insure this ancient mammal's survival is to transplant breeding individuals to new protected areas. In 2006 I traveled to Swaziland to work on the preserve. Three bachelor rhinos were captured and transported to a new game park in South Africa, wrangled much the same way any grazing animal is. You simply need a larger rope, some very good drugs and a few more warm bodies.



One Sunday afternoon in May, Mick Reilly, Mkhaya's manager (in the floppy hat that has seen better days) and his staff of dedicated rangers led a 3 year old male to new citizenship and fresh females across the Swaziland/South African border. These efforts will ensure the continued presence of rhinos on our planet.