North Luangwa/Rhino question
 

Hi - I am wondering if any of you more experienced Zambia travelers know of a timeline for safari goers to be allowed into the area where rhino are being re-introduced? If not, I may do some checking myself. I know that protection, getting them habituated, etc... will take time, I am just wondering.

Thanks!
Sharon

Sharon - The link below has the most detailed information I have been able to find on the subject.

Per this report the scouts monitoring the rhino are taking great efforts to not disturb the population so I imagine it will be some time before tourists are allowed in this area:

"Minimum disturbance is of the highest importance, and most of the time an animal is left behind without it even knowing that it has been observed."

The report also states the birth of the first baby rhino in the N.Luangwa park occurred in May 2005:

http://tinyurl.com/kqwnu

Thanks GreenDrake. I knew it would be awhile - I was just curious if anyone had an actual projected timeline or anything.

Oh, to have seen the valley back when rhinos roamed free. I can't imagine what it must of been like before the poaching onslaught. I hope the re-introduction program is sucessful.

Sharon, if you want to visit a place where rhinos roam free, and always have, you may want to look into Hluhluwe-Imfolozi (South Africa) -- there are thousands of rhinos in that park (both white and black), and the white rhinos are very visible (I saw dozens per day), and the black rhinos are a bit more difficult (but there are daily sightings).

While I have seen rhino in other parks (the other good parks being Ngorongoro, Kruger and Etosha), they were not nearly as good as Hluhluwe.

Michael

Thanks Michael - I know that there are place you can see rhino - I was sort of just fantasizing about how the Luangwa might have looked in its "heyday." :-D

Still, South Africa is certainly a place I'd love to visit. (Not many places I WOULDN'T love to visit, actually!) ;-)