Home to the world’s largest population of black rhinos, Namibia is an important and special place for rhino conservation. Most of these rhinos live in three areas: Etosha National Park, Waterberg Plateau Park, and the Kunene Region. All three are vast, distinctive landscapes, but perhaps the most unique rhino habitat is the Kunene desert.
The rhinos here range over a 25,000km2 mosaic of community conservancies (areas managed by local communities for conservation and sustainable development) and tourism concessions (partnerships where land is set aside for tourism activities that benefit the community and wildlife). The rhinos themselves have adapted incredibly well to life in a tough, arid environment, dealing with temperatures ranging from sub-zero to 40oC, relying on a plant that’s deadly to most other mammals – including humans – as a staple food source, and finding drinking water only every few days. The black rhinos of Kunene are extraordinary. But that’s not all that makes them special.
With no boundaries or fences to constrain them and no official protected area status, they are also the world’s last remaining free-roaming black rhino population. Truly wild, the black rhinos here have more room than most. But this also brings significant challenges. Today, their security and well-being depend entirely on the people looking out for them.
Since 1982, Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) has been championing this work. In partnership with the communities of the Kunene and Erongo regions, SRT created its Rhino Ranger Programme. The Programme supports local rhino tracking teams that, through their critical monitoring work and emerging roles in tourism, improve rhino security while increasing the value of rhinos to local people.
With a community-first approach, SRT has prioritised conservation activities that bring benefits beyond just rhinos. Their collaborative projects encourage sustainable tourism on community land, increasing livelihood opportunities and incentives for local people to support and amplify conservation impact. This genuine inclusion and long-term engagement of surrounding communities in rhino conservation will ensure that Kunene’s black rhino population has a chance to thrive.
SRT’s dedicated rangers monitor the rhinos, recording important data such as location, behaviour and health. They patrol for hours, using their local knowledge and experience to track rhinos deep into the desert. In one year alone, SRT’s rangers have covered more than 50,000 km on foot, logging more than 4,000 rhino sightings across 12 months. Yet, reaching the most remote, rugged areas of the desert remains difficult. Despite long days patrolling and using vehicles to travel further, there are places that rangers simply cannot access by foot or by car. And that’s where the Mule Patrol Unit comes in.
Able to cover greater distances than rangers can on foot, and traverse terrain that vehicles can’t cross, mules have amplified the vital efforts of SRT’s rangers. Established in 2021, the Unit has made a big impact on rhino monitoring in the Kunene, enabling the team to reach rhinos where other patrols can’t. Crucially, this not only ensures that SRT can monitor more rhinos, but also supports their security, too.
Organised crime networks operating in Namibia have already poached 46 rhinos in Etosha National Park this year. With Kunene just 300 km away from Etosha, the urgent threat of poaching is ever present. The Mule Patrol Unit’s presence, whilst not an anti-poaching team itself, can act as an effective deterrent to poaching gangs.
Next week, as part of The Big Give Christmas Challenge, we’re aiming to raise £90,000 to support this Unit, helping to provide the rangers and mules with the equipment they need to remain safe and effective as they aim to reach the areas where rhinos are most vulnerable.
Thanks to generous match donors, between 3 and 10 December, every donation made to the Mule Patrol Unit appeal will be doubled. So, when you give £10, it will become £20! Please stand with us next week as we raise funding for this important Unit and their continued work.
Thank you for your ongoing support for rhinos.