Kuzikus is home to ten Black Rhinocerouses (
Diceros bicornis bicornis), which is red-listed species by the IUCN. Regular monitoring of the individuals is crucial to safeguard their survival in the wild. An effective method to monitor the population in Kuzikus is to track the individual by following their footprints. This is a traditional method used by the San for hunting dangerous animals in the past. The knowledge of tracking is highly complex and mainly only possessed by local trackers.
BRinK works together with
WildTrack, an organisation that develops a software programme to identify individuals with footprint images with the aim to simplify the method of tracking and making it accessable to endangered species conservationists.
The aim of this project is to complete the database of footprints of all ten Black Rhinos freely roaming in Kuzikus. Field work will require to track individuals together with local specialists and obtain images of their footprints.
As all Black rhinos belong to the government of Namibia, this project received special authorisation by the Ministry of Enviroment and Tourism. Bear in mind that this expedition can only be run, if there are a minimum number of 3 volunteers - tell your friends to join you.