Chronology :: Poaching Years

The desert-adapted black rhino (Diceros bicornis bicornis) is a true desert survivor. Ancient bushman rock paintings clearly depict rhinos in the region. Some of the earliest white explorers, such as Charles John Andersson and Axel Erikson in the mid-late 19th Century, make frequent mention of black rhinos in their journals, ranging even as far south as the Swakop River. Yet, like many large mammals in Africa, the late 20th Century was a challenging period.

 During the late 1970s and early 1980s the numbers were drastically reduced by poaching. Carcasses riddled with automatic bullets were found at waterholes and the local population joined the massacre with their own .303 rifles. Horns were hacked off with pangas and, in the case of elephants, chain saws were used to remove the ivory.  Between 1970 and 1977, a number of black rhinos were captured and removed from the upper Ugab and central Damaraland and transported to the Etosha National Park by the Directorate of Nature Conservation and Recreational Resorts in an effort to give better protection to the population. This left a relic population behind which numbered more than 100 in Damaraland and approximately 150 in Kaokoland.

By 1982 less than 10 rhinoceros survived in Kaokoland and an estimated 30 to 40 survived in Damaraland. The illegal trade in rhinoceros horn escalated throughout Africa, and to date, more than 80 per cent of Africa’s rhinoceros population has disappeared. The rampant poaching was exacerbated by a 3-year drought, one of the worst in recorded history, killing off massive numbers of both wildlife and livestock. It is believed that at this time, rhino numbers may have been reduced to below 50 individuals.