FIGHTING FOR OUR RHINOS
Ashleigh Dore, Manager, EWT Wildlife in Trade Programme
ashleighd@ewt.org.zaFew people are unaware of the rhino poaching crisis which persists in South Africa. 7,900 rhinos have been poached in South Africa since 2008 for their horns. These horns are then smuggled out of South Africa to demand countries, primarily in Asia. In an effort to combat the illegal trade and smuggling of rhino horn, the EWT will be partnering with the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries to enhance detection capabilities at ports of entry and exit through the use of highly trained canines. These canines will screen cargo and luggage for wildlife products like rhino horn.
The EWT has been actively involved in addressing the scourge of rhino poaching since 2010, and this partnership is the latest of these efforts. Others include:
Patrol optimisation
Observations made by patrol teams are pivotal for monitoring poaching trends and identifying patterns. With proper analysis, these data provide enforcement decision makers with invaluable information for patrol deployments or reallocation of other resources. We have undertaken projects to enhance capacity to prevent wildlife crimes within private and state-owned protected areas through the collection of data (using CMore or other relevant platforms) and analysis of the same, thereby generating valuable information and facilitating more intelligence-driven investigations. Further, these projects facilitate the creation of predictive models that will enable law enforcement to take a proactive approach towards targeting illicit networks.
Prevention and detection
Our Conservation Canine Project continues to grow from strength to strength. Conservation Canines play a vital role in the protection of South Africa’s wildlife and offer critical support to anti-poaching efforts. The Conservation Canine Project provides three different types of service to combat wildlife crimes involving rhino including poaching and smuggling:
- Tracking Conservation Canines: these Conservation Canines are trained to follow humans through the bush. These dogs follow tracks when breaches in the reserve boundaries have been noticed or to track poachers from poaching scenes to apprehend them. Our trackers include EWT Conservation Canines Annie, Blacky Grizzly, Puk and Basil.
- Detection Conservation Canines: these Conservation Canines are trained to detect and indicate various wildlife contraband such as rhino horn and elephant ivory as well as ammunition. The dogs are used at reserve gates to search vehicles and people, to search luggage and crime scenes. Our detection canines include EWT Conservation Canines Condor, Fury, Hitsch, Heddie, Vito, Bullet, Spike and Fly.
- Conservation Patrol Dogs: The Conservation Patrol Dogs are used to support anti-poaching units such as the Black Mambas with visible policing and as a first alert system to dangerous game in the area. EWT Conservation Canine Alice is currently our only conservation patrol dog.
We have worked closely with law enforcement agencies over many years to build capacity to combat wildlife crimes, including the poaching of rhino and the smuggling of their horns. We also have undertaken dedicated awareness raising with prosecutors from the National Prosecuting Authority as to the seriousness of rhino related crimes.
We are also commencing with a new project, utilising restorative justice approaches. Restorative justice is a holistic approach to justice that aims to involve the parties to a dispute and others affected by the harm (such as the victim, the offender and the community) in collectively identifying harms, needs and obligations through accepting responsibilities, making restitution and taking measures to prevent a recurrence of the incident and promoting reconciliation. Restorative justice is a well-established approach to justice that can and will have very meaningful impacts on rhino related crimes in South Africa. It will promote enhanced community engagement, provide an opportunity to the victim to be properly heard and will contribute to a change in mind-set and reduce recidivism on the part of the offender. The Restorative Justice Pilot Project will facilitate the application of restorative justice processes to inter alia rhino related crimes in key sites in South Africa.
Governance.
We participated in both the Commission of Inquiry to potentially legalise the trade in rhino horn and the 2016 Rhino Lab. We are also commencing a rhino horn trade analysis project. Continuous analysis of trade trends of rhino horn is vital to ensure compliance with the legal framework. Through improved monitoring of legal domestic trade, illegal trade (both domestic and international) and historic trade in rhino horn, we will be able to ensure that key threats to rhino from trade – both current and emerging –are fully unpacked and reported, thereby facilitating informed decision making and proper accountability.
This work is made possible by US Fish and Wildlife Service, Tourvest, Hans Hoheisen Charitable Trust, Greef Properties, Relate Trust, MyPlanetRhino, Platinum Life, and Royal Canin.
WILD DOGS ARE BACK IN TEMBE ELEPHANT PARZK
Cole du Plessis, KZN Regional Carnivore Coordinator & Wild Dog Range Expansion Project Coordinator, EWT Carnivore Conservation Programme
coled@ewt.org.zaThe greatest threat to the African Wild Dog is habitat loss. Twenty-five years ago, the Kruger National Park was the only safe space for the species in South Africa. Most of the population outside of this protected area had become locally extinct and the species was proclaimed the most endangered carnivore in South Africa.
In 1997, a strategy meeting was held to revive African Wild Dog conservation in South Africa by undertaking a Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA). This recommended reintroducing the species into feasible, protected sites outside of the Kruger National Park. KwaZulu-Natal, under the leadership of Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and with the support of the EWT and Wildlife ACT, became the frontrunners in restoring African Wild Dog populations and managing the species. Tembe Elephant Park was one of these testing grounds for range expansion.
However, the Wild Dog Range Expansion Project came with challenges. African Wild Dogs face numerous threats from people: persecution, snaring, poisoning, roadkill and disease. A further concerning challenge is that our protected areas are limited in size. As African Wild Dogs require a large amount of space, this situation can increase the risk of human-animal conflict.
Two years ago, Tembe Elephant Park came close to losing their African Wild Dog population for this reason. The resident pack at the time continued to exit the park over a prolonged period and caused livestock losses within the community, which in turn led to extreme conflict between Tembe Elephant Park and its neighbours. The resolution lay in a gathering of all stakeholders – comprising Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the Tembe Community Trust, the EWT, Tembe Safaris and Wildlife ACT – to collectively find a way forward.
Together the parties were able to delegate responsibilities and put their best effort forward to sustain African Wild Dogs in the 30,000 ha of Tembe Elephant Park. A robust Memorandum of Agreement between the parties now incorporates breakout and compensation protocols, GPS collars, monitoring, research, and management tools. This document paves the way for a more modern approach to African Wild Dog conservation and will ensure that all parties will ultimately benefit by having the species present.
In South Africa, there are only 590 African Wild Dogs that are spread between 14 protected areas, and a handful of free roaming African Wild Dogs in the Waterberg region. In Africa, Wild Dogs are extinct in 25 of the 39 countries that they once roamed. As the only country with a stable population on the continent, South Africa is in a unique position to provide a source of Wild Dog packs for protected areas elsewhere in Wild Dog range, where in some cases, populations have been gone for decades. In the context of biodiversity conservation, this team victory is of the highest value to Tembe Elephant Park, South Africa and the African continent.
In August 2019, a newly formed pack comprising two males from Tembe Elephant Park and two females from the Kalahari were released into Tembe Elephant Park. This pack has settled well since the release and there is hope that a new generation of Tembe pups will make its appearance before year end.
This work was undertaken in partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, Wildlife ACT, Tembe Community Trust, Tembe Safaris, and iNkosi Tembe, and with assistance from the Centre for Environmental Rights. It is made possible by Painted Wolf Wines and GCCL2 Management Services.
UPCOMING EVENT
HIDE AND SEEK CHAMPIONS
Cobus Theron, Manager, EWT Drylands Conservation ProgrammeThe Karoo is a vast and inspiring landscape. The extensive “rantjies” and “vlaktes” remind us that once there was a time when most of the earth was free of noise, pollution and human infrastructure. This seemingly harsh environment does however provide a home for many unique mammals, birds and reptiles. More often than not, the threatened and Endangered species of the Karoo are solitary, elusive and difficult to research and conserve.
The EWT’s Drylands Conservation Programme (DCP) is committed to researching and conserving some of these ‘hide and seek champions.’ “Developing and exploring new techniques to find, locate and study some of our target species is one of the major drivers of our work, and makes what we do innovative, exciting and pioneering,” says Este Matthew, the DCP’s Specialist Conservation Officer.
One of the most effective and reliable tools in the DCP’s arsenal of approaches is the use of camera traps. When searching for the presence of elusive species such as the Riverine Rabbit, the DCP uses up to 40 cameras arranged in clusters of up to five cameras. Cameras are kept in position for at least 40 days. Setting up cameras can be hard work as cameras, batteries, Y standards and a big hammer are often carried long distances from the vehicle. The correct orientation and placement of the cameras is important.While cameras need to be set up facing south (to avoid morning and evening glare from the sun), knowing where to place them is even more importan.
tFew people are better than our own Karoo expert, Bonnie Schumann, in placing these cameras in places most likely to capture secretive Karoo species. Observing Bonnie setting up cameras immediately reveals that science, observation and a highly focused intuition is key to Bonnie’s unrivalled success in setting cameras for Riverine Rabbits.
While cameras need to be set up facing south (to avoid morning and evening glare from the sun), knowing where to place them is even more importantFew people are better than our own Karoo expert, Bonnie Schumann, in placing these cameras in places most likely to capture secretive Karoo species. Observing Bonnie setting up cameras immediately reveals that science, observation and a highly focused intuition is key to Bonnie’s unrivalled success in setting cameras for Riverine Rabbits.
The cameras once again proved their worth In March 2019. After a reported Riverine Rabbit roadkill in the Baviaanskloof the DCP set out to determine if the roadkill was an unusual event or if in fact the western parts of the Baivaanskloof had an active Riverine Rabbit population.
Over the course of two days the team set 12 clusters of between three and four cameras each. Each cluster was more than a kilometre apart (significant enough that a single Rabbit would not trigger cameras in two clusters). All the clusters are planned on a map in advance and situated on private land with the permission of the owners. The cameras were then left for 50 days.
The team returned in May to collect the cameras and review the footage. Excitement was high as we were hopeful for positive results. Supper plans were postponed as memory cards were copied onto laptops and footage reviewed. All expectations were surpassed as more than eight of the 12 clusters had footage of Riverine Rabbits on them. Huge celebrations followed as the team confirmed a brand new population in a new geographic area for the Riverine Rabbit .
Collecting images is however only the first step in using camera trap data. Due to the fact that cameras are triggered by movement, each camera may take hundreds of pictures, often including wind or sheep triggered pictures. Sorting these pictures can be very time consuming. The EWT is currently collaborating with the Liverpool University John Moores to develop a machine learning programme capable of identifying and sorting pictures according to species. Once this machine learning software is perfected, we hope to get to a point where individuals of a species like Riverine Rabbits can be uniquely identified.
Camera trap information can also be used to calculate the density and area of occupation of species. Due to the additional information captured by the cameras – date, time, temperature; it is also possible to develop a better understanding of the activity patterns of certain species.
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL FOR BREEDING CORMORANTS
Lourens Leeuwner, Manager, EWT Wildlife and Energy Programme
LourensL@ewt.org.zaRecently the EWT’s Wildlife and Energy Programme (WEP) received a request for urgent action from Eskom Transmission’s North-East Grid to help deal with nesting cormorants causing problems for Kriel Power Station. When the grid’s linemen inspected the source of the faults, several White-breasted Cormorants were found to be nesting on steel lattice towers of the Hendrina-Kriel 400 kV transmission line. Some of the birds were nesting directly above the insulator strings and their continued presence resulted in heavy pollution in the form of a coating of faeces on these critical components. Initial remediation to clean the insulators was only a temporary solution; when WEP was called to action on Thursday, 27 June, the line had again tripped the transformer at Kriel Power Station, which in turn resulted in a significant loss of supply. A quick solution would be to simply remove the nests immediately, but the North-East Grid’s environmental manager, Tovhowani Tshikomba, correctly asked for assistance in doing so responsibly and within the constraints of their ordinal permit to manage bird nests on their infrastructure.
A decision was initially made to move the nests lower down the tower, however when a senior field officer from WEP was dispatched to investigate the situation, he found that only one of the nests contained nestlings that had not yet fledged. Fortunately, this particular nest was not situated directly above the insulators, and thus posed no serious threat in causing additional faults. The soiled insulators and bird guards still had to be replaced, however, and Eskom linemen were hoisted up to the top of the tower by helicopter that Saturday morning. The adults and fledglings left the tower when disturbed, leaving the last nest with its nestlings too young to fly. The team from Eskom took care when working close to the nest, and WEP monitored the nest from a distance once the work was completed. Everyone was relieved to see the parents return soon after the helicopter had left.
This has been a good example of how wildlife can have an impact on electrical infrastructure, and of how the Eskom/EWT Strategic Partnership strives to solve such problems responsibly and with no negative impact to our wildlife residents.
WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE?
Innocent Buthelezi, Field Officer, EWT Wildlife and Transport Programme
InnocentB@ewt.org.zaWe live in an incredibly complicated and interconnected world. Transportation networks stretching across land, sea and air, and other linear infrastructure (such as power lines, canals, pipelines and fences) extend across large swathes of the globe. These are a visible representation of how cultures use the landscape, enabling us to travel and share goods and ideas. In addition to providing access to remote areas, networks of roads, highways, railways and utility lines have a variety of, both positive and negative impacts on natural systems that range both spatially and over time.
Traffic, particularly when reckless driving is involved, can have a direct negative impact on wildlife, with many species at risk from wildlife-vehicle-collisions, often resulting in an animal’s death, or ‘roadkill’. The ongoing collection and submission of data by road users and road management agencies is making a substantial contribution to our understanding of these negative impacts particularly on specific species, habitats and road sections.
The EWT’s Wildlife and Transport Programme (WTP) works with toll concessionaire companies such as Bakwena N4N1, TracN4 and N3TC, through training their route patrollers to gather roadkill data. The database we hold with N3TC is substantial, and we are starting to identify species and sections of the route where there is most, and least, roadkill.
Reports from sections 9, 10 and 11, between Heidelberg and Villiers, have consistently shown high levels of animal road mortality since 2014, and consequently, have been identified as a potential roadkill hotspot (Figure 1). It is logical, then, to assume that animals are unsuccessfully attempting to cross the highway; however, evidence from site visits in 2017, demonstrates that some animals are utilising existing structures such as culverts and underpasses to successfully cross beneath the road.
These structures were mostly not built or erected for the express purpose of being wildlife passages, but the thinking is that some structures will still fulfil this function. Currently there are little data available on the benefits of existing structures in South Africa that highlight areas where wildlife utilises crossings. Therefore, surveys offer a quick and cost-effective method of gaining a greater understanding of these benefits and proposing appropriate recommendations to existing structures to address the threat of roads to wildlife.
We are in the process of using camera traps to determine what species (if any), are using the culverts and underpasses. The structures were selected based on a site visit undertaken in August 2017, on Section 10 (Villiers) of the N3 highway. The aim of this project is to conduct a survey of existing road structures and determine how they benefit wildlife. In consultation with N3TC, the EWT proposed to install six cameras rotated between 10 different culverts / tunnels under the N3 to determine which species occurred in the vicinity of, and which species actually used, the crossing structures to move from one side of the road to the other.
To allow comparison between the sites, the structure-type was standardised (in this case, large underpasses) as was the fence-type adjacent to the structure (a livestock fence on both sides of the road). Adjacent habitat types and/or land use was variable, for example, wetland, agriculture, and grassland, which will allow an assessment of why animals may prefer one underpass over another. Six of these structures were single passages, with the remaining four being double passages .
One camera was placed at one end of the structure, attached to the sidewall through the use of solid bond adhesive, approximately 4 metres above the ground, on a pivotal arm. This enabled the camera to be angled down towards the ground, as well as in line with animal movement. The cameras were further encased in a padlocked steel box which was attached to the pivotal arm by a metal chain. The installation of cameras is a first for the country and will guide mitigation measures in 2020.
The six cameras were deployed from 21 February this year and have been getting some fantastic data. The data were analysed up to 27 April, although the cameras were deployed until 27 May, before some of the cameras were sadly stolen, and we had to remove the rest to prevent further theft.
A total of 109 observations was captured on the camera traps between 21 February-27 April 2019. The majority of these were mammals, followed by birds, and reptiles. It should be noted that the bird was a Helmeted Guineafowl, and typically terrestrial, residing in flocks during the non-breeding period, whilst a lizard species was unidentified.
Of the 106 mammals, seven species were identified, with Cape Porcupine being the most common, followed by unidentified rodents (i.e. mice). Three species of mongoose were identified (Water, Large Grey, and Slender).
One observation of a Serval was detected, which is very exciting given the large number of Serval road mortalities in the N3 database. If Serval are naturally opting to use the structures, how many of them are utilising them successfully, and why are some electing to still cross the highway?
N3TC and the EWT have decided to discuss redeployment and measures to reduce future theft. To counter the theft of further cameras, WTP’s Field Officer, Innocent Buthelezi came up with a plan to make the cameras theft-proof and had to raid his dad’s workshop to modify the four remaining cameras. Innocent’s new design (the ‘ButheBox’) started as cardboard to build a template for the casing. The final design of the ‘ButheBox’ has three padlocks attached the box, which will hopefully make it more difficult to access.
