Rise of the Rhino

The Land Cruiser’s wheels spin on the gravel road as we lurch up a small hill. Stopping at the top, Leon, our guide and driver, points out roaming elephants far off in the valley below. We step out and walk over to the edge. The lush green landscape reminds me of a scene from Jurassic Park – minus the dinosaurs. Zebras and kudu, as well as elephants, meander by a twisting river that zigzags its way to a distant horizon. As the bright hot sun pierces a clear blue sky, an untouchable, subconscious energy seems to flow in and around us. It’s a connection with nature one doesn’t find at the city zoo. Everything here is unconstrained by signs, fences or steel bars. Nothing, in fact, separates us from the animals, except cameras and a good driver who knows how to find 5th gear in a pinch. The cameras click and we all head back to the jeep to continue our journey along the winding roads of Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park.

With the October 2005 creation of Camdeboo National Park, there are now 22 national parks in South Africa. Kruger Park is the best known and, at 1.9 million hectares, by far the largest. There are plans to expand its borders into Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which would create the worlds’ largest trans-frontier park. South Africa also features scores of wildlife and nature reserves, both public and private. These too showcase the spectacular beauty of the country’s wilderness areas and rich diversity of its flora and fauna, but draw fewer visitors. Over one million visitors passed through Kruger in 2005, as opposed to 250,000 for Hluhluwe (pronounced “ShushLooey”). “I like this park much better than Kruger,” says Leon, who has been guiding for eight years. “There’s something about the size and intimacy of Hluhluwe that gives you a better experience.”

Hluhluwe and Imfolozi were created as separate game reserves in 1895, and share the distinction of being the oldest wildlife sanctuaries in all of Africa. Joined by a connecting corridor in 1989, they became one large park of 96,000 hectares which today is home to some 350 varieties of birds and more than 80 species of mammal. Over the past two decades, the park has gained a reputation as one of the best places to see Africa’s Big Five – lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros. Particularly rhinos but there were times when such a boast seemed highly unlikely. The park is located in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, in central Zululand, the name a reminder of the region’s turbulent history. It was at the very heart of the increasingly powerful Zulu tribe during the 19th century, and was used by one of its greatest kings, Shaka, as a royal hunting ground.

By the 20th century, hunting was hardly the only problem. When nagana, an often fatal disease transmitted by tsetse flies, infected cattle on farms adjacent to the park, farmers blamed the wildlife as the source. A massive slaughter ensued and during the 1930s and ’40s, some 100,000 animals from over a dozen species were systemically killed. Today, however, Hluhluwe-Imfolozi is virtually the world’s breeding ground for the white rhino, a crowning achievement that has taken more than 50 years of fierce conservation management. Thanks largely to the renowned Operation White Rhino, begun after the park came under the jurisdiction of the new KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Service in 1952, the animals’ numbers have gone from just a few dozen in the early 1900s, to nearly 2,000 today, with another 3,500 relocated to other parts of Africa and the world. In 1994, the southern white rhino became the first species to be World Conservation Union’s “critically endangered” list (it’s listed today as “lower risk conservation dependent). Meanwhile, the park has become the place to see these magnificent animals. As our guide wagers, “If we don’t see more than one, I’ll put my head on a chopping block.”

Our vehicle’s radio suddenly squawks, and Leon picks up the receiver to heavy static and a faint human voice. After a quick chat, he tells us that rhinos have been spotted on one of the side roads. After making a 10-point U-turn on the narrow track, we race off in the direction we came, leaving dust in our wake. Wheeling around a corner, we bump along one of the many adjoining roads that spread out like dirt cobwebs throughout the park. Twenty eyes are peeled in every direction.

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