The Minnesota Zoo’s support for critically endangered black rhino conservation in southern Africa reached a decade in January, 2019! Zoo Conservation Biologist Dr. Jeff Muntifering, who works with Save the Rhino Trust and other local partners in Namibia, reports that despite consistently high poaching rates in Africa of some 3 rhinos per day, our collective efforts to protect the desert black rhinos of north-west Namibia have seen tremendous success. The last confirmed poaching incident in this region occurred in August, 2017, meaning that there has been no poaching for the past 18 months! Moreover, after nearly 2 years without any new rhino calves due to a 4-year drought, we have recorded 16 new calves in the past year! Our Conservancy Rhino Ranger incentive program has bolstered patrol efforts and rhino sightings over the past 6 years, and our Rhino Pride Campaign has helped improve the value that local people attach to saving rhinos. We will be welcoming Dr. Muntifering back to Minnesota in April, and you can learn more about his first-hand experiences at the Zoo’s Our World Speaker Series event on April 17 2019.
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