There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
In these years I have observed these animals many times. An animal with a unique power. After a long time and after many attempts, finally a shot that I like. And you? Have you ever seen a white rhino in the wild? "
Peter Haygarth:" A rare sighting of a THREE horned Black Rhino in Etosha National Park, Namibia. The extra horn is believed to be a birth mutation that sometimes but very rarely occur so to see it and photograph it was very lucky and a bit special "
" Sad news. Poachers are killing more rhinos in South Africa and Botswana as #COVID19 halts tourism. At least 9 rhinos have been killed in South Africa’s North West province since the #lockdown and 6 rhinos have been poached in neighboring Botswana. Recent incidents are in tourism hot spots that were considered safe havens for wildlife. Without eyes on the ground from tourists and guides as well as economic hardship imposed on struggling communities from national shutdowns, we are very concerned that poaching may increase again and endangered animals may become additional casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you "
David Yarrow:" Thank god it’s Friday. But does anywhere care?
The best country I know to photograph rhinos is Kenya. Nairobi is having the same issues as almost every other big capital city, but maybe these are latent here for now. Be in no doubt that there is collateral damage to conservation for the Pandemic. These are darks days for East African conservation, and we need to address it. Help will come. There are too many good and smart people around for it to be an afterthought. "
Lucien Beaumont: " The experience of being able to be the proverbial fly on the wall as you watch a magical scene of a mother rhino and her calf enjoying a cooling mid bath. "
Megaherbivores have been lost from most ecosystems world‐wide, and current increases in poaching of rhino and elephant spp. threaten their status in the systems where they still occur. Although megaherbivores are said to be key drivers of ecosystem structure and functioning, empirical evidence is strongly biased to studies on African elephant. We urgently need a better understanding of the impact of other megaherbivore species to predict the consequences of megaherbivore loss.
We used a unique ‘recolonization experiment’ to test how a megagrazer, white rhinoceros, is affecting the structure of savanna grasslands in Kruger National Park (KNP).
With a 30‐year record of rhinoceros distribution, we quantified how they recolonized KNP following their re‐introduction. This allowed us to identify landscapes with high rhino densities and long time since recolonization versus landscapes with low rhino densities that were recolonized more recently but were otherwise biophysically similar. We recorded grassland heterogeneity on 40 transects covering a total of 30 km distributed across both landscapes. We used two proxies of grassland heterogeneity: % short grass cover and number of grazing lawn patches. Grazing lawns are patches with specific communities of prostrate‐growing stoloniferous short grass species.
Short grass cover was clearly higher in the high rhino impact (17.5%) than low rhino impact landscape (10.7%). Moreover, we encountered ~20 times more grazing lawns in the high rhino impact landscape. The effect of rhino on number of lawns and on short grass cover was similar to the two dominant geologies in KNP, basalt‐derived versus granite‐derived soils.
Synthesis. We provide empirical evidence that white rhinoceros may have started to change the structure and composition of KNP's savanna grasslands. It remains to be tested if these changes lead to other ecological cascading effects. However, our results highlight that the current rhino poaching crisis may not only affect the species, but also threaten the potential key role of this megaherbivore as a driver of savanna functioning.
