Six days of non-stop rhino talk (The Horn, Autumn 2006)

A perfect week in June in Swaziland: the biennial African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) meeting. Perfect, because for six solid days, we talked rhino. (Apart from sidling over to Ted Reilly’s house one evening to watch the doomed England-Portugal match; establishing a small but elite running club, the Mlilwane Harriers; and, not least, meeting the King of Swaziland.)

The agenda of the AfRSG meeting was pretty packed. There were presentations by each of the range states, in which country representatives reported on white and / or black rhino numbers, rhino population management strategies and progress towards these goals, poaching incidents, rhino horn seizures and law enforcement successes and failures. These were followed by talks by a number of donor agencies, including Save the Rhino International, with the aim of improving field conservation managers’ understanding of what charities or NGOs need in order to fundraise more effectively. There were sessions on the outcome of the controversial granting by CITES of permits for Namibia and South Africa to auction black rhino trophy hunts; on major region- or country-wide rhino conservation strategies; and more detailed looks at individual populations in particular reserves or Parks. There were discussions about new scientific techniques being used to identify the species and source of rhino horn using chemical “fingerprints”, to assess habitat suitability, and to trace linked criminal activity. It was heavy and heady stuff.

Light relief came on day four, when Ted Reilly, the grandfather of conservation in Swaziland, whose excellent relationship with the King has achieved so much for the country’s wildlife, arranged for us to visit Mkhaya Game Reserve. The chance to get extremely close to some wild, but well-habituated white rhino, was too good to miss for most of the group. Later that morning, a curious male black rhino, attracted by the unfamiliar sound of a car door carefully squeaked by Ted, came right up to the bonnet, nuzzling the bumper while we all scrambled to zoom out our cameras to try to fit him in the frame. And finally, while having lunch at one of the Reserve’s lodges, three white rhinos ambled along the dried-up river in front of us, turning skittish as they realised they had an audience less than 20 feet away. We also had the opportunity to see Mkhaya’s innovative rhino bomas and rhino crate trailer.

Re-energised, we returned to Mlilwane for a further day and a half of workshops, each aimed at generating ideas and involvement in a particular issue. I took part in the one looking for a long-term funding strategy for the AfRSG’s Secretariat and for its main outputs: in addition to these biennial meetings and the highly respected journal, Pachyderm. We made good progress, identifying a number of possible funders and agreeing how the funding proposal could be strengthened to make it even more compelling.

I need no convincing: the six days’ networking with rhino specialists was a fantastic learning experience for me, and it was clear that all the others attending got a great deal from the meeting. It isn’t just about the formal exchange of information and contact details, it is also about making friends around the fire, swapping ideas over a beer, or sitting in the back of a jeep, looking at some remarkably nearby rhinos while chatting through grant applications and budgets. Even rhino gossip has its place; these people have a great sense of humour. Spending a week or so with other rhino conservationists means that next time you have a query, or a problem, or have made some discovery that might help others in the same situation elsewhere, it’s that much easier to pick up the phone or to send a quick email.

It was a great privilege to be invited to attend the meeting as an Observer, and I would like to thank the members of the AfRSG very much indeed for making me so welcome.

Cathy Dean
Director