July's Action at Somkhanda

The last few weeks of July saw some action at Somkhanda Game Reserve, with darting crews and helicopters arriving to install monitoring and tracking devices on some of the Black and White Rhino. With the threat of poaching on the reserve ever increasing, certain individuals were to be fitted with new transmitters in order to assist the Field Rangers and Rhino Monitors with locating and protecting these amazing animals. With two days of darting available, the reserve management was aiming at fitting at least seven rhino with both VHF (Very High Frequency) transmitters and also GPS based, Store on Board devices. These devices allow reserve management to locate individual rhino and also understand the rhino’s movements within the reserve. This is vital for identifying high risk areas and makes the deployment of Field Ranger patrols more efficient.

The entire process is extremely quick and efficient so as not to have such a large animal tranquilised for too long. It is a humbling experience to witness these large animals close up and makes the fight to ensure their survival even stronger.

Tane was one of the rhino identified for a transmitter fitted into his horn. He was also fitted with a new UHF Store on Board, analogue tracker which will allow much more accurate tracking of the animal on Somkhanda.

Left: Tane safely tranquilised while the ground crew gets to work, fitting him with a horn transmitter and microchips. Right: Shortly after the administration of the reversal drugs, Tane gets back onto his feet.

Wildlands is also currently buying additional game for Somkhanda, with good numbers of zebra and kudu also being released over the weekend. This is being done in order to create a more attractive reserve from a biodiversity and ecotourism point of view which will ultimately lead to a more sustainable game reserve for the community.

This was a truly amazing experience and will no doubt help to ensure a more secure environment for the Rhino on Somkhanda.