CONSERVING ENDANGERED RHINOS IN SOUTH AFRICA - Earthwatch
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Earthwatch 2017 Annual Field Report
CONSERVING ENDANGERED RHINOS IN SOUTH AFRICA
PI: Dr Dawn Scott, University of Brighton
CO-PI’S: Lynne MacTavish, Dr Anja Rott, Dr Rachel White,
Dr Maureen Berg & Dr Angelo Pernetta
Period covered by this report: JAN 2017-DEC 2017
1
Dear Earthwatch Volunteers,
We would like to thank all the teams in 2017 for their exceptionally hard work and dedication.
It had been a very tough year for us and the animals with the extended drought and we are
pleased to say that the start of 2017 brought us lots of urgently needed rain and completely
transformed the reserve! With the help of all the teams we have had a very successful year of
data collection and your presence and continual monitoring helped to keep our beloved animals
safe this year. The purchase of a drone allowed us to test the effect of drone on moving animals
around to help with management and we are now using it to help with vegetation mapping so a
great asset for us in terms of the research we can do. This was the second full year of the rhino
project and over the last year you have helped to collect 1,246 rhino behavioral observations,
276 rhino spatial locations, undertaken 45 camera trapping sessions and 19 features transects,
assisted with dehorning and undertaken 55 trials of deterrents. The volunteers also got to aid in
burning the firebreaks. No burns took place in 2016 due to the drought. But last year they burnt
three block burns and all the firebreaks. This was a tremendous effort from all the teams and
we had the pleasure to get to know you all, share our passion for rhinos and conservation as
well as have lots of fun along the way and see lots of amazing wildlife!
So what has been happening with our rhinos this year? 2017 saw the breakup of the sub-adult
herd (naughty five/six) with Dougie going solitary. This breaking up has led to the rhinos were
far more spread around the entire reserve rather than concentrated in a few zones. This may be
partly due to the end of the two year drought in 2015/6, which has changed the distribution of
foraging/drinking/wallowing opportunities. Dougie has begun showing signs of territoriality, and
begun to establish his position against the other two dominant bulls, Luke and Brutus. Brutus
was witnessed mating with Mish after a fight with Luke so we might see another calf soon! In
2017 we dehorned all of the adults and older calves. We've also been able to monitor the rhinos
ranges and movement patterns in response to the reserve changing in shape, with areas
previously accessibly to the rhino now closed off by a new fence, and areas that have previously
seen no rhino now open to them.
We have been assisted this year by PhD student Sam Penny— funded by the University of
Brighton, Max Withey and Emily Marshall, who have all been focusing on the impacts of
dehorning on behavior and are currently collating data and writing up. Max and Emily
successfully wrote up their Theses in 2017 and we have now been looking at publication of some
of the data. We have held several conservation awareness days with a high school from the
local community. This informs learners and their educators about the rhino poaching crisis and
allows them to experience conservation in action which gives them a greater appreciation for
wildlife. Thank you to all the people that have assisted us this year in the field, Dougal, Penny,
Sam, Melissa and Charles. Thank you also to the Picerne Foundation for their continued support
and to all our previous volunteers across the world who continually support us.
As always, we can’t wait to meet the new teams and we wish all the past teams all the best for
the New Year.
Please keep in touch!
Dawn Scott & Lynne MacTavish
2
SUMMARY
In 2017, volunteers provided approx. 7,600 hours of assistance, resulting in:
• 1,246 behavioral observations;
• 276 spatial locations, and
• 315 camera trap nights.
• 19 key features transects
• 55 deterrent experiments
• 24 vegetation mapping plots
This has provided us with extensive amounts of data we are currently analyzing to answer key questions
for rhino conservation and management. The project has also been involved with raising awareness of
the current rhino poaching crisis through community engagement and media, contributing to several
international TV programs, radio features, blogs and websites.
GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND RESULTS
Rhino Project research goals/objectives:
1) To determine the consequences of dehorning on the behaviour of white rhinoceros.
In 2017 we collected 1,246 behavioral observations on
horned and dehorned southern white rhinos (Ceratotherium
simum simum). This data has been collated with the
previous year’s data (to around 8,000 observations) and
analysis has started on these data. From this data we can
start to ask questions on mother and calf vigilance 1) are
dehorned more vigilant? 2) do calves with dehorned mums
stay closer? 3) do calves of dehorned mums stay more
visible? And also on Individuals: Are dehorned individuals
more vigilant? How does group size effect vigilance in
horned and dehorned animals? Do dehorned groups stay
closer together than horned? We aim to get this analysis
completed by summer 2018 for publication.
2) To investigate bird species and assemblages directly supported by rhinos, in order to evaluate
the potential impact of localized loss of this mega-herbivore on avian communities.
Following successful pilot surveys in 2016 we used the pilot data
to develop a more refined study on rhino-bird associations that
focused on 6 large mammals (giraffe (Giraffa giraffa giraffa),
greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), blue wildebeest
(Connochaetes taurinus), zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) and
both species of rhinos, white and black (Diceros bicornis), and
the 16 bird species commonly associated with rhinos. In Nov/Dec
2016 we focused on the main data collection and have 568
individual records of bird-mammal associations and in 2017 this
data has been analyzed and drafted into a publication for
submission.
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3) To determine what behavioral and environmental factors determine the spatial distribution of
white rhinoceros in game reserves.
In 2017 we have collected 276 spatial locations of rhinos during Earthwatch teams. This is being
combined with the continual monitoring data and observations of research assistants and volunteers to
give a database of around 835 spatial locations
so far! To look for habitat associations, habitat
mapping was initiated in 2017 – although
vegetation composition to determine habitat
types was unable to be undertaken due to
extreme drought conditions. We have started to
develop GIS layers and plotting the spatial
locations and started to do some spatial analysis
– but until we have the habitats maps completed
in 2018 we cannot progress any more. However
as the rains have now come we can start to
collect spatial data in a different season post
drought and we now have a drone which we can
do the vegetation mapping with!
4) Evaluate the impact of changes in mega-herbivores (white & black rhino) in structuring the dung
beetle community diversity.
After the 2016 extreme drought we could not do any dung beetle work, but rain in early 2017 has meant
we could focus on this aspect in the first 2017 teams. The data we collected has now been drafted into a
paper – but again we have been waiting for some rain extra rain in 2018 to help undertake some repeats
to make this data robust.
4
5) Raise community awareness of the impacts of the decline in rhinos to raise community support in
its protection.
Our focus has been to raise awareness in country by undertaking attending government forums,
undertaking talks to local and national groups and internationally through talks to visiting researchers
and university groups.
• Delivered 28 talks to local & university groups in 2017 and have reached approximately 465
people inclusive of international students, professionals, researches and conservationists. The
response to these presentations has been very positive and has inspired people to take the
message of the crisis rhino are facing back to their own countries and many students and
Earthwatch volunteers have presented their own presentations in schools, zoo’s and universities.
• Lynne was very involved in continued support of Rhino 911 and is an invited speaker at their
Fundraisers.
• The Earthwatch teams hosted 4 school groups from local Mogwase schools, 48 learners and 6
educators attended the conservation days.
• Lynne was invited to attend an international press day at Rhino Pride Orphanage and was
interviewed AFP French Television, NHK Japanese Television and a German News Station. The
intention of the interviews was to highlight the rhino poaching crisis and create awareness around
the world.
• Lynne has been made an expert consultant on the Private Rhino Owners web page Rhino Alive.
• Lynne and Charles will appear in a documentary entitled ‘Raising Wildlife’ which features the
rhino and giraffe. The documentary will be aired late December. The film company is Urban Brew
and documentary is for Germany.
5
Websites such as EW, University of Brighton and the reserve facebook and fund raising pages have raised
awareness locally and international.
Lynne has set up the web page www.stopkillingrhino.com with Mike Hanlon which has been very
successful in creating awareness.
PROJECT IMPACTS
1. Increasing Scientific Knowledge
a. Total citizen science research hours:
Volunteers spend approx. 8 hours per day undertaking research for 10 days in the field (80 hours per
volunteer). In 2017 we had 95 volunteers. This is a total of 7600 research hours.
b. Peer-reviewed publications:
None yet but several in preparation with analysis underway
c. Non-peer reviewed publications:
Max Withey (2017) The impact of dehorning on the behavioural ecology of the southern white rhinoceros
(Ceratherium simum simum). MRes Thesis University of Brighton.
Emily Marshall (2017) The effects of Dehorning on White Rhino (Ceratotherium simum) vigilance behavior.
MSC thesis. Royal Vet College, University of London.
d. Non-peer reviewed publications (books): None
Lynne was included in the book Applied Ecology, monitoring, managing and conserving written
by Anne Goodenough and Adam Hart, her chapter was about reintroduction and rewilding.
e. Presentations:
Penny, S.G., White, R., Scott, D.M., Pernetta, A. (2016). The impacts of dehorning on the southern
white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum). Poster presentation. 15th International Elephant
& Rhino Conservation and Research Symposium, Singapore.
f. Project publicity: Links to featured stories, videos and publicity:
• Story of a woman, saving the African Rhinos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkagpBB_0no
• Our story front page of the LA Times, this story has created a lot of awareness:
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-south-africa-rhino-horn-trade-20170802-story.html
https://www.google.co.za/search?rlz=1C1JZAP_enZA754ZA754&q=lynne+mactavish+&oq=lynne+mactavish
+&gs_l=psy-ab.12..35i39k1l2j0j0i22i30k1.3041.4592.0.7301.8.8.0.0.0.0.454.1314.4-3.3.0....0...1.1.64.psy-
ab..7.1.433....0.hgAWqZAztMg
• A documentary aired on ABC Nightline across the world:
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fabcnews.go.com%2FNightline%2Fvideo%2Fprivate-
rhino-farmers-dehorning-brainer-save-animals-part-
6
50727199%3Fcid%3Dshare_facebook_widget&h=ATPDCdKR8HD7fP4JhvQpMWaMSVaCB5ddHq5LCbSNH
VmrYHcFDotsPV0aJv2P43qxnd8JIg5J_WxYDcUJAEFM7XlhJlZmpUi5PxdTjlPCplT7o_gDFzAEIWqGWovY6Dp_
M6hnUwxIeJiQw6FU9M54P_tYYUPtVU-Amd569nPp9uitA9nw62V7ZZiyeBnMFFstSVJERD20CKycFJ-
wpOWiO8TDxgtJPVhOZd4PRTicVp18hXuD2u6R_0EXuFlHFmAVRELT6EwMTyVyW9g7aAFisWO_aVl1m4_VR
SmbsI4
• Night Line Saving Rhinos in South Africa:
https://web.facebook.com/Nightline/videos/10156473281578812/?hc_ref=ARSqMoPRk6KYMTk
az3ey7uVEW2cHc7eGfk3OBhwpdWXvT7bbwGiK7kodYKWqy-h0WWU
• NHK Japanese Documentary, this documentary is hoped to create awareness in South
East Asia where the source of the rhino poaching lies.
:https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww6.nhk.or.jp%2Fkokusaihoudou%2Fbs22%
2Flounge%2Findex.html%3Fi%3D171205&h=ATOUgP3328vv4LAQxdKs_ctdIBODkFu3-
vbDN9ZBF2Z-DWTb1KiFZKkauJIdL-S1w0_0z1-UrzNpbWWqYps-
i_EiK1g93vpHpbgnfm4m4X_egtQmCb6DO1lWlvVcKqCrZ6UAmed68xFm9q8LaVjnMB8IiSZUC6aK
vEXJepIEhnGmrEMP-
AunVAxYEgDkzntliu8007dZIZdkscO5BAVoadP3Vql1rlR_p0Xt6hI35Un51NRPpPrQBdMdR0EHeAiiI
CQxY7SHWTbC8wHetx8moWvG1B2kpgKy
2. Mentoring
a. Graduate students
Student Name Graduate Project Title Anticipated Year
Degree of Completion
Sam Penny PhD Impacts of dehorning on rhino 2018/19
behavior and physiological status.
Emily Marshall MSc The effects of Dehorning on White Rhino 2017
(Ceratotherium simum) vigilance
behavior
Max Withey MRes Impacts of dehorning on spatial and 2017
temporal behavior of rhinos.
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b. Community outreach
Name of school, Education Participants Details on contributions/
organization, or level local or non- activities
group local
JM Mtsine Secondary Local 48 Learners 6 Educators
Selly Park Secondary Local 22 Learners 2 Educators
University of University Non-local Rhino Crisis Presentations were
Brighton presented which lead to
several public awareness days
University of Durham
and charity events in the U.K.
University of
Gloustershire
Lincoln University
Nottingham Trent
University
Otley College
South Staffordshire
College
North Shropshire
College
Plumpton College
Hartpury College
Derby College
3. Partnerships
Partner Support Type(s)1 Years of Association
Pilanesburg National Collaboration, permits 2006-present
Park/NWPB
Mankwe Wildife Collaboration, logistics 2006- present
Reserve
Penny Rees Cultural/education support 2008 – present
Lounsbery Funding 2015 – 2016
Foundation
John Hanks Academic support 2015 – present
1. Support type options: funding, data, logistics, permits, technical support, collaboration, academic
support, cultural support, other (define)
84. Contributions to management plans or policies
Plan/Policy Type2 Level of New or Primary goal Stage of Description of
Name Impact3 Existing of plan/policy5 Contribution
? plan/policy4
CITES Legalization international Existing Species Discussed Input information
of trade conservation and adopted on private
landowners views
on legalizing
rhino horn trade
Mankwe Management Local Existing Species Adopted Informed anti-
Reserve Plan conservation poaching
Management deterrent use and
Plan spatial locations
of rhinos on
reserve to better
inform anti-
poaching effort.
2. Type options: agenda, convention, development plan, management plan, policy, or other (define)
3. Level of impact options: local, regional, national, international
4. Primary goal options: cultural conservation, land conservation, species conservation, natural
resource conservation, other
5. Stage of plan/policy options: proposed, in progress, adopted, other (define)
5. Conserving natural and sociocultural capital
a. Conservation of taxa-
• List any focal study species that you did not list in your most recent proposal
• In the past year, has your project helped conserve or restore populations of species
of conservation significance? If so, please describe below.
Species IUCN Local/regional Local/regional Description of Resulting
Red List conservation conservation contribution effect6
category status status source
White Rhino Near 1028 poached in Savetherhino.org Protected a No loss of
Threatened 2017. population by rhinos in study
Currently increase area in 2016
consider high research activity (improved
risk due to in area. population
poaching crisis structure;
increased
breeding
success)
9b. Conservation of ecosystems – in the past year, has your project helped conserve or
restore habitats? If so, please describe below.
Habitat type Habitat significance7 Description of Resulting effect8
contribution
Bushveld Feeding site and full Helped to maintain existence Extend maintained.
Savannah range of reserve by generating
revenue for its persistence
c. Ecosystem services – Indicate which ecosystem service categories you are directly
studying in your Earthwatch research and provide further details in the box below.
☐Food and water ☐Flood and disease control
☐Spiritual, recreational, and cultural benefits ☒Nutrient cycling
Functional role of rhinos in ecosystems is being assessed by how they support bird and
invertebrate diversity.
RESEARCH PLAN UPDATES
Report any changes in your research since your last proposal/annual report. For any ‘yes’ answers, provide details
on the change in the ‘Details’ box.
1. Have you added a new research site or has your research site location changed? ☐Yes ☒No
2. Has the protected area status of your research site changed? ☐Yes ☒No
3. Has the conservation status of a species you study changed? ☐Yes ☒No
4. Have there been any changes in project scientists or field crew? ☒Yes ☐No
Details – provide more information for any ‘yes’ answers
We have two new field staff members. One leading the Science side: Melissa Dawson and one new logistics:
Luke Levitt.
5. Provide details on any changes to your objectives, volunteer tasks, or methods, include reason for the
change.
We have added in a new method looking at effectiveness of different deterrents including olfactory and
acoustic at keeping rhinos away from certain sites/fence line.
This year we will able to start the grazing methods as starting in the original proposal and also habitat
mapping.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to thanks all the people who continue to support us, those linked with us via Earthwatch Institute
and also the wider community who continue to support us and the conservation of rhino.
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