Efforts to increase South Africa's black rhino population are bearing fruit, an environment body said on Wednesday.
The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project had produced 30 calves since 2003, project leader Jacques Flamand told reporters in Joburg.
He said the calves were the offspring of rhinos relocated from various Ezemvelo KZN wildlife parks to six locations.
The animals were moved because state reserves could only carry a certain number of them at one time without jeopardising breeding and food supply.
The rhinos were placed on private land, in partnership with land owners and communities, Flamand said. Any calves born were shared equally between Ezemvelo and private caretakers.
“Our key achievement is for rhinos to breed at a rate which surpasses mortality,” WWF African rhino programme manager Joseph Okori said.
“Today, Africa has over 4 800 black rhino... but poaching is continued cause for concern.”
Flamand said to curb poaching, the main criterion for relocation was the standard of security at every site.
“We have assured ourselves that the fencing is good, the patrolling is good and there is equipment to monitor rhino.”
The recovery of white rhino numbers was much higher than that of their black counterparts, known for being more difficult to manage.
“Black rhinos are demanding, not sociable and need more space per group,” Flamand said.
“They can be lucky that so many white rhino are around to act as a useful buffer.”
Okori said the model for the project was being expanded to other provinces, specifically Eastern Cape and the North West. The project is a joint initiative of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the KwaZulu-Natal state conservation body.
A total of 287 rhino had been poached in South Africa so far this year. Last year, 333 rhino were poached. – Sapa