Private rhino conservation: Diverse strategies adopted in response to the poaching crisis

Private landowners in South Africa conserve roughly 40% of white rhinos globally. Given concerns that escalating poaching has caused private‐rhino owners to disinvest, we used a national survey to assess 171 private‐rhino owners’ responses to the crisis. Twenty‐eight percent of rhino owners are disi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Conservation letters 2020-11, Vol.13 (6), p.n/a
Main Authors: Clements, Hayley S., Knight, Mike, Jones, Pelham, Balfour, Dave
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cluster analysis
Conservation
Costs
Crises
Ecotourism
International trade
Landowners
Livestock
Poaching
Principal components analysis
private land conservation
response diversity
rhino horn
South Africa
Sustainability
sustainable use
white rhino
Wildlife
Wildlife conservation
Wildlife management
wildlife trade
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Summary:Private landowners in South Africa conserve roughly 40% of white rhinos globally. Given concerns that escalating poaching has caused private‐rhino owners to disinvest, we used a national survey to assess 171 private‐rhino owners’ responses to the crisis. Twenty‐eight percent of rhino owners are disinvesting in rhino, 57% are pursuing business‐as‐usual (largely ecotourism), and 15% are investing in more rhinos. It is currently unclear whether this diversity in private‐rhino owners’ responses to the crisis is increasing the resilience of the rhino population to poaching. Some rhino investors show signs of financial stress. Most owners support rhino‐horn trade to fund conservation, yet international trade remains banned. By contrast, a recent national policy amendment allows rhinos to be managed as livestock, risking a shift from rhino‐for‐conservation to rhino‐for‐production on private land. Our findings highlight an urgent need to ensure policies keep pace with dynamic socioeconomic environments that influence the sustainability of wildlife use.
ISSN:1755-263X
1755-263X
DOI:10.1111/conl.12741