Though still critically endangered, the black rhino population in Namibia is increasing once again.
Wilderness’ conservation program empowers locals while educating travellers.
In Namibia, black rhinos spend their days grazing a vast and remote landscape – their occasional appearances on safaris reward only the patient or the very lucky. “Even when black rhino numbers were strong, a sighting was very special,” says Vincent Shacks, group head of impact with African tour operator Wilderness. “When you saw a black rhino, you really did celebrate.”
Black rhino populations began dropping steeply in the 1970s, driven by decades of illegal hunting. As numbers across Africa declined, sightings became even more precious. Shacks sees the loss partly in symbolic terms: “If you can’t protect the rhino, then you know other things are being lost,” he says. “It’s just a really bad showing for how we’re functioning as custodians of nature in general.”
But a new generation is working to protect the critically endangered species in Namibia, which is still home to the world’s largest black rhino population. At last year’s Virtuoso Travel Week in Las Vegas, Wilderness accepted a sustainability award for its partnership with Save the Rhino Trust and the organisation’s community ranger program, which trains locals to track, monitor, and watch over the native animals.
After launching in 2012 with fewer than 20 rangers, the program now employs nearly 90 people. They’ve helped decrease poaching rates by an impressive 80 percent, allowing populations to rebound and multiplying black rhino sightings in the region fivefold. In an impoverished area where economic opportunities are scarce, the program succeeds by aligning community needs with conservation goals. For travelers, that means better odds of encountering one of Africa’s most elusive and charismatic animals – along with a chance to connect with the locals who protect them.
Wilderness Desert Rhino Camp in Namibia’s Damaraland
On many of Wilderness’ Namibia safaris, including a 14-day, small-group trip from Windhoek, Namibia, to Botswana’s Okavango Delta, travelers sleep at the same remote desert camp where the rhino rangers maintain a home base. During early-morning game drives with trackers, they follow footprints and the tagged rhinos’ radio signals across the open desert, where sweeping views increase the odds of sightings. At night, visitors gather around crackling fires to hear the rangers’ stories about working with rhinos and life in the rural community.
This format suggests that conservation works best when approached as a conversation. “You’ve got to know what’s going on in the local context, and you get that just from listening to what people are saying, chatting with them around the campfire, figuring out what moves people,” says Jeff Muntifering, a conservation biologist and scientific advisor to Save the Rhino Trust.
While raising income to pay for food, education, and basic needs remains a top priority in Namibia, nurturing the community’s sense of ownership and purpose may matter just as much, Muntifering explains. “These rangers, men and women, really enjoy being out in the field,” he says. “The animals have become their rhinos. Local people believing and feeling that it’s their responsibility – that’s been the real game changer.”
