Yahoo News 22 May 10;
SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK, Tanzania (AFP) – A group of Tanzanian rhinos, extinct in their natural habitat, was airlifted home Friday from South Africa where some of the species were taken two decades ago.
The Tanzanian government asked South Africa to return some of the black rhinos, of the east African Diceros bicornis michaeli species, after they went extinct in their original home range, South Africa's government news agency said.
South Africa had imported five of the michaeli rhinos more than 20 years ago, BuaNews agency said. While the species is not native to South Africa, the rhinos thrived there, multiplying to 61.
"I thank very profoundly all those who have supported Tanzania's wildlife conservation efforts over the many years," Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said when the five rhinos arrived at an airstrip in Serengeti National Park.
"This event is a stark reminder of what went wrong in the past and a lesson about what needs to be done to prevent it from happening again.
"My government is fully committed to the conservation of wildlife in general and rhinos in particular."
The animals were loaded onto trucks and released into a small enclosure where they will be closely monitored over the next few weeks, an AFP correspondent reported.
They will then be released into a 40-square kilometre (16-square mile) sanctuary protected by an electric fence and monitored for up to a year and then released to roam the Serengeti plains.
A further 27 will arrive over the next two years, bringing the total to 32 in what is billed as the biggest move of this kind.
Only 700 eastern black rhino remain in the world, with less than 70 in Tanzania.
The rhinos were transported in a Lockheed Hercules C-130 cargo plane.
"This initiative is in line with the African Renaissance, as these animals contribute to economic development through tourism and protection of our national capital," South Africa's Environment Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said.
David Mabunda, the head of South Africa's national parks, called the relocation of the animals a "fairy tale" ending.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, poaching almost wiped out the rhinos from east Africa. By 1991 there were only two rhinos left in the Serengeti. That number has now risen to 33.
"We have done all the necessary preparations to make sure these animals will be safe. They will survive," Simon Mbuma, director of the Tanzanian Wildlife Research Institute, told AFP.
Rare Black Rhinos Relocated To Africa's Serengeti
Tom Kirkwood, PlanetArk 24 May 10;
Conservationists flew the first five of 32 critically endangered East African black rhinos from South Africa back to their habitat in Tanzania's Serengeti park Friday.
The rhinos had been bred from a group that was rescued from the Serengeti in the 1960s and relocated to South Africa to prevent the total extinction of their sub-species at the hands of poachers.
Rampant poaching in the Serengeti -- famed for its sweeping planes and Africa's most spectacular wildebeest migration -- in the 1960s and 70s saw the population of east African black rhinos in Tanzania plummet from over 1,000 to just 70.
Seven were relocated to South Africa in the early 60s.
"This event is a stark warning of what went wrong in the past," Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said at a ceremony for the arrival of the A C-130 Hercules aircraft at the remote Seronera airstrip, deep in the Serengeti.
"The government is fully committed to the protection of wildlife in general and rhinos in particular," he added, as the huge beasts were disembarked.
Organizers said the relocation was part of a new drive by African governments to protect the "big five" mammals -- lions, rhinos, elephants, leopard and buffalo -- that make up one of the continent's main tourist attractions.
The 32 being reintroduced to Tanzania are part of a 50-strong herd bred from the original seven.
"We have trained a special force that will take care of the animals. They are now operating. They are out there in the field cleaning the area (of poachers)," said Dr Simon Nduma, director of the Tanzanian Research Institute.
Conservation experts say the extra protection for the rhinos will also help other species in the park.
Both Tanzania and Kenya have suffered a spike in poaching, particularly of elephants and rhino, in the past few years. Kenya lost at least six rhinos last year, according to experts at Friday's ceremony.
However, officials say conservation efforts in Africa are getting more sophisticated and cross-border.
"Conservation is without boundaries, animals don't carry passports and we believe we are almost in unison in ... what we want to achieve in Africa," said South African National Parks Chief Operating Officer David Mabunda.
(Editing by Tim Cocks)
