Rhino now lined up for Mikumi National Park

Photo: File

Rhino at Mikumi National Park.

 By Marc Nkwame , The Guardian

EXPERTS at the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) are working on an ambitious conservation project to re-introduce rhinoceros at Mikumi National Park to boost southern circuit tourism prospects.

David Kadomo, the park’s senior conservation officer and acting CEO, cites data to the effect that rhinos used to roam aplenty in the park until the mid-eighties, where an onslaught of poachers largely finished them off.

Three months from now Mikumi will be marking 60 years since it was established, upgraded from game reserve status, with the reintroduction of rhinos being a key element in uplifting the park’s image.

The CEO said that among the new strategies to boost tourism and wildlife species in the park is to replenish the conservancy with some lost species including the legendary rhino, as the park is a natural habitat to the black rhino.

Bringing back the animals is largely to bring them back home, he said, noting that wildlife experts were raking parts of the national park to identify the most suitable areas for keeping the rhinos for acclimatization.

Some of the animals may be taken from the Mkomazi rhino sanctuary in Kilimanjaro Region, while others can be flown from South Africa, he said, affirming that there is ample space in the park, located near Morogoro along the highway to Zambia.

It occupies some 3,230 square kilometers of savannah grasslands mixed with tropical forest hills, bustling with big game like the lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe, elephant and big herds of buffaloes.

Tour operators cite the need for more trendy animals in the park, especially the ‘big five,’ where the rhino is missing, as the ’big cats’ are present, along with elephants. River-based large species like crocodiles and hippos are not part of trendy wildlife, analysts affirm.

Mlema Mlema, a guide with Hola Africa Safari, said that Mikumi is smaller in size compared to parks like Nyerere or Serengeti, enabling viewing most big species within a single game drive.

Tour operators and conservators feel it is high time the rhino is brought into the fold to complete the ‘big five’ set and further boost already vibrant tourism activities in the park, he added.