WHITE RHINO TRACKING
Today i’m still going to write about our trip in Zambia, but i’ll focus about our White Rhino Tracking in Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park.
The Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park
Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park [Mosi wa Tunya] “The Smoke Which Thunders” from the Kololo or Lozi language. Is a UNESCO World Heritage site that share its name with Victoria Falls on the Zambesi river.
In this park the wildlife is not so wide, but very spectacular. Includes Angolan giraffe, warthog, zebra, Cape buffalo, impala, kudu and other antelope. African elephants are often seen in the park when they cross the river in the dry season from the Zimbabwean side. Hippopotamus and crocodile can be seen from the river bank. Vervet monkeys and baboons are common as they are in the rest of the national park outside the wildlife section.
The park actually has ten rhinos now. The park before contained only two southern white rhino. Southern rhino are not indigenous and were imported from South Africa, but they were both poached in 2007. One was shot dead and got its horn extracted not far from the gate. The other one after received serious bullet wounds still lives in the park under twenty four hours surveillance.
As of June, 2009 the number of southern white rhino in the park has been increased to five animals with plans to introduce further animals in due course.
The white rhinos
Once we drove across the National Park, we reached the Ranger who will guided us into the bush to track the Rhinos.
An AK47 on the shoulder of the guy immediately focused us how much the poachers are a problem in Africa and about the risk these guys face every day.After 15 minutes of tracking we reached a clearing where we faced 30m to the rhinos that where having a relaxing mud bath.
We were lucky when they decided to made us a gift and made a parade in front of us.
This short excursion, takes around 3 hours leaving from Livingstone.
BUSH BOYS ADVENTURES WAS THE OPERATOR THAT GUIDED US TO THIS EXPEDITION.