Monitoring
The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project supports intensive monitoring of black rhino on project sites.
Activities include support of specialized black rhino monitors, provision of equipment (eg GPS transmitters, binoculars and tents), and support for ear-notching of black rhino. Notching enables staff to identify individual animals and monitor the overall population more accurately.
The ear-notching process is swift and efficient. A black rhino is darted to make it fall asleep. Its ears are then notched with a distinctive pattern that is visible from a distance. The antidote is administered and the animals wakes up and runs off, no worse for wear. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.
Knowing as much as possible about numbers, territories, calving intervals and age at which calves leave their mothers makes it possible to make informed decisions about black rhino management.
The ear-notching process is swift and efficient. A black rhino is darted to make it fall asleep. Its ears are then notched with a distinctive pattern that is visible from a distance. The antidote is administered and the animals wakes up and runs off, no worse for wear. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes.
Knowing as much as possible about numbers, territories, calving intervals and age at which calves leave their mothers makes it possible to make informed decisions about black rhino management.
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In addition to the notching, rhino horns are marked with invisible microchips
