Fiona Macleod
One of less than 500 East African black rhinos left in the world is due to be
killed near Johannesburg in a ”canned” hunt because conservationists can’t agree
on what else to do with her.
The rhino cow was brought to South Africa 12 years ago as part of an ambitious
endangered species breeding programme run by North West-based wildlife dealer
John Brooker. The idea was to supplement the dwindling numbers of the rare michaeli rhinos by selling them to private game reserves.
Named Baixinha (”pretty one”), she was imported from a zoo in Brazil. She is so
tame that she often features as a movie star and readily eats from the hands of
visitors at Brooker’s game farm near Broederstroom.
A Norwegian hunter is prepared to pay more than $60 000 to shoot Baixinha despite her friendliness because she will make a unique trophy.
It would be virtually impossible to get a permit to shoot her in East Africa,
where the last remaining 452 michaeli rhinos are stringently protected by the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). But Brooker
says a permit has been granted here on the basis that South African black rhinos
are a different sub-species and ”hunting” her will not have an impact on local
populations.
The dealer says Baixinha will be ”hunted” because the breeding project has floundered on conservation red tape. He imported a male rhino from an Israeli
zoo to mate with Baixinha and staged a public ”rhino wedding”, but the male died
of old age before the breeding project could get off the ground.
”The project failed as a result of political interference by conservation NGOs
and bureaucrats. Their attitude was that the only people who could have black
rhinos in this country were the national parks,” he says.
There are 32 other michaeli black rhinos in South Africa. Most of them are at
the Addo National Park in the Eastern Cape and there are a few at a private game
reserve, Thaba Tholo, near Thabazimbi.
In a drive to rid the country of non-indigenous wildlife, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism recently decided to send the Addo rhinos back
to East Africa and ruled that registered zoos are the only private landowners in South Africa allowed to continue keeping the michaeli rhinos.
Brooker has considered placing Baixinha in other breeding projects, but demands
they pay for the expenses forked out by the financial backer of his failed breeding project, American businessman David Laylin.
Laylin says he has spent at least $200 000 on the project over the past 12 years. ”All the conservation groups with which we discussed this matter wanted
me to give Baixinha to them, for free, and accused me of trying to profit from
an endangered species when all I was trying to do was recoup my original investment.”
Brooker sayslll local NGOs prevented him from getting a fund-raising number to
supplement Laylin’s investment.
At 24 years old,ll Baixinha is still in prime breeding form. Black rhinos can
live to the age of 44 and usually carry on breeding until they are 30.
The Ethical Conservation Network, a local watchdog body, has offered to find her
a new mate and home in East Africa, but the offer has not been taken up by Laylin.
”This planned ‘hunt’ of a captive animal is unethical, even if it is legal,”
says Ethical Conservation Network co-founder Rozanne Savory.
”It is clear the most endangered species in the world are not protected by Cites
and literally have no future if they are in captivity.”