November 2010 marked a historical moment for environmentalists in Botswana when Chinga, the only female black rhino at the Khama Rhino Sanctuary, finally gave birth to her second calf in three years. This moment has been awaited for months, so the news of the new born male calf were well received and brought relief to all in the sanctuary. Everyone was eager to at least have a glimpse of the newborn through the bushes. This happened after it was discovered that Chinga had abandoned her older male calf when their tracks were seen separately in different areas.
Chinga's tracks were observed more than once around the same waterhole and she always took the same path into the nearby bushes after having a drink. Intensive searches for Chinga were launched by the Game Rangers and after two days of intensive patrolling Chinga and her newborn were spotted on the morning of 16 November 2010. The mother was very protective of the baby and moved deep into the bush when she noticed the presence of people. Areas of trodden grass, pruned bushes and footprints were observed in the area. Resting spots indicate that she has been in this area for some time.
Chinga was the first black rhino to be translocated into the sanctuary in September 2002. She came from the Chobe area and surprisingly settled very well in the sanctuary, an area with different vegetation type of Kalahari sandveld, just on the edge of the Kalahari Desert. In 2006, the sanctuary managed to bring in a male black rhino (Noddy) from Zimbabwe with the help of funds from the from GEF/SGP for project BOT/98/G52/05/23 from Zimbabwe to kick start the black rhino breeding programme as they have always had a lonely female rhino called Chinga. Noddy also settled in very well and mated with Chinga. In March 2008, Chinga gave birth to her first calf, the first ever black male rhino to be born in the Sanctuary. The first calf made history as it was the first addition to both the sanctuary and national head count for the past 16 years. It increased the national head count from 9 to 10.
Chinga's second calf is a remarkable achievement for the Khama Rhino Sanctuary rhino project and brings the Sanctuary's black rhino population to four which is 50% of all the black rhinos in Botswana. The Sanctuary is doing equally good with the white rhino as well; an initiative that was funded by GEF/SGP during its infancy through project BOT/G51/001 on Conservation of white rhinos. Having started with only four rhinos and later acquiring eleven more from South Africa on a donation, the sanctuary has already translocated 16 white rhinos to different protected areas within Botswana and is currently home to 33 white rhinos, the highest of any protected area in Botswana.
These two projects supported by the GEF Small Grants Programme represent advancement in the protection and conservation efforts of white and black rhino's in Botswana. It is important to note that according to IUCN red List Category the Black Rhino is Critically Endangered as their population has declined by over 90% in the last sixty years.
Contact:
Ms. Elsie Tolani Mvimi, National Coordinator, SGP Botswana | Tel: 267 3905146 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.