IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Plotz, R.D. | |
| The interspecific relationships of black rhinoceros (_Diceros bicornis_) in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park | |
| 2014 Full Book | |
As habitat loss, predators (human and non-human) and disease epidemics threaten species worldwide, protected sanctuaries have become vital to species conservation. Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park (HiP) in South Africa is at the centre of one of the world's greatest conservation success stories. The formal proclamation of HiP in 1895 prevented the extinction of the south-central black rhino (_Diceros bicornis minor_) population. In recent times HiP has been a strategic source population for the _D. b. minor _range expansion program, facilitating an 18-fold population increase across southern Africa. However, HiP's own black rhino population appears to be in decline. Evidence for decline is most often attributed to overpopulation and poor habitat quality that is driving apparently significant increases in the average home range sizes, poor growth rates (i.e., low calf recruitment) and poor body condition of black rhino. Other factors such as non-human calf predation and parasitism have also been raised as potential causes of decline but remain untested. HiP does have some of the highest densities of lion (_Panthera leo_) and spotted hyena (_Crocuta crocuta_). HiP's black rhino population also suffers from remarkably severe chronic haemorrhaging lesions caused by a filarial parasite (_Stephanofilaria dinniki_). Empirical evidence if or indeed why the HiP black rhino population might be in decline is lacking. Investigating this population's true status and any potential causes of an apparent decline is urgently needed. Chapter 3: Black rhinoceros (_Diceros bicornis_) calf succumbs after lion predation attempt: implications for conservation management. |
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