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| Massai Mara rhino, US Person |
In order to save them from unrelenting poaching, some 500 of Kruger National Park's remaining rhino will be dispersed to other, lesser known parks and private reserves if the plan is approved by South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs. Kruger has a high profile as a rhino stronghold with 93% of Africa's white rhinos and 39% of black rhinos, so it has become an easy target of poachers. Conservation of the two species began in the early 1900s when rhinos were no living in Kruger. Fifty years ago rhinos from KwaZulu-Natal and Hluhluwe-uMfolozi were relocated to Kruger. since that time the population has continued to grow to around 21,000. The Department wants to follow the same strategy of relocation and creation of multiple strongholds to save rhino from extermination by the illegal and morally despicable horn trade. The Department thinks that strategic relocations will allow cost effective husbandry to maximize population growth.
