Rhinos in Zimbabwe
used with permission from potter park zoo
In a last chance attempt to stop the killing of rhino from
poachers in Zimbabwe, a dehorning policy was introduced by
National Parks and Wildlife Management. This policy has been a
failure - over 80 dehorned rhino's were killed by poachers in
1993. Dehorning is a very expensive exercise. Due to the growth
of the horn stumps, the dehorning has to be repeated on an annual
basis with the further risk of mortality from stress associated
with immobilisation and capture.
National Parks in Zimbabwe has introduced a policy to capture
and move the black rhino from the Lower Zambezi valley to safer
parts of the country. These safe areas are called Intensive
Protection Zones (IPZ's). Half the remaining black rhino in
Zimbabwe are now on private land in the three main rhino
Conservancies:-
1. Midlands Conservancy in the Midlands.
2. Save Valley Conservancy in the south-east Lowveld.
3. Bubiana Conservancy in West Nicholson.