![]() It was heartening to see successful breeding among these endangered rhinos and to be able to approach to a close but respectful distance without causing alarm. Our tracker told us that calves were appearing to stay with their mothers longer during the drought, presumably to learn more about what they could and could not safely eat. This, our guide told us, was the three-year-old offspring of the same cow, which had been weaned and then pushed out of her territory by the mother before she gave birth to the calf we had seen.Ī few days later we successfully tracked a black rhino cow and fully-grown calf in a conservancy to the north of Torra. Again feeding on euphorbia was a young male. The calf looked strong and showed no signs of suffering from the conditions – an indication that the cow was getting enough food and liquid to produce milk.Ī kilometre further on, we got more evidence of the successful breeding ability and mothering skills of the cow we’d seen. She was accompanied by a very healthy three-month-old calf. The rhino we first spotted was not alone. We saw the carcass of an elephant in one of the conservancies, which our guide said had died from starvation caused by drought. Talking to trackers from Namibia’s Save the Rhino Trust, I was told that elephants and many other browsers won’t eat euphorbia and this means more food is available for the rhinos when drought has destroyed palatable plants and led to death for some animals. ![]() Rhinos can eat it without ill-effects (as can desert-adapted gemsbok and kudu) and it helps them survive when other vegetation withers and dies. Euphorbia is strongly drought resistant and exudes a thick, milky sap that is so toxic that it can kill browsing herbivores and has been used by San hunters as a poison for their arrows. It may be one reason why the desert-adapted rhinos of Damaraland appear to be surviving the three-year drought there better than other wildlife. ![]() This bush survives well in the harsh, arid, rocky terrain and climate of Namibia’s Damaraland. If the cow was aware of our presence, she didn’t show any concern and continued nibbling at the E uphorbia damarana bush in front of her. Because rhinos have poor eyesight it is most likely that she was listening to the sound of us approaching, but probably couldn’t see us well enough to know what we were. About 150 yards ahead was a large black rhino looking straight toward us. Guest blog on drought by Keith Somerville.īashing along a basalt boulder-strewn track in Torra Conservancy in Namibia’s Damaraland, our guide cut the engine and whispered “rhino”.
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