We had been searching unsuccessfully all morning for a pair of mating leopard that had been seen the previous night. After a few hours of following tracks, we were driving past Tingwe Camp,( the place where John Varty raised the abandoned lion cub, Shingalana.) when I noticed the rear end of a rhino sticking out of some bushes. One of the other rangers had seen tracks and dung of a black rhino a few days before so it had been on my mind that this was a possibility. As I saw it I immediately, even from the little I could see, thought it just looked different. Not wanting to shout out “Black Rhino” and then loook silly when a young white rhino wandered out, I held my tounge and reversed a few meters for a better view. Then, in a typical display of Black Rhino behaviour, it ran out of the thicket towards us to investigate, a bunch of leaves dangling from its mouth. After staring at us for a few seconds, it promptly turned tail and ran at full speed in the opposite direction.
Suddenly, even the possibility of finding a mating pair of leopard seemed to pale in comparison to what we had just witnessed. What made it even more special was that just the day before, Dan (the geust who took the photo below) had been telling me how how fascinated he was by rhino and how much he enjoyed seeing them, but none of us could have imagined we would see the elusive Black Rhino. That brief glimpse ended a five year wait since the last sighting on Londolozi. In a time when Africa is experiencing some of the worst poaching for rhino horn in its history, it is an encouraging sign to see one of these extremely rare creatures.
Black Rhino by Londolozi Guest, Dan
Photographed and Filmed by: Dan
I am very jealous!!! Wow!
Well done! So cool to see a black rhino at Londolozi, and nice shot by Dan.
Amazing! Such wonderful news. And a lovely little sighting 🙂
WOW! WOW! WOW! Well done guys! Hope this a sign of MORE to come….what a great DAY!!!!
What a magnificent animal wow, I need to get back to the bush!!
William, I can only agree with you on all accounts. Thanks for your comments. Rich
Thats brillient news, fingers crossed there will be more, a great sighting
Yes, lets hope so Sue. They are such interesting animals to spend time with and incredibly exciting to witness given their rarity.
So amazing!!!
We arrive in ~2 weeks and I obsessively read the blog while enduring the countdown! So many amazing sightings to hope for!
That’s wonderful to hear Mary Sue, especially the obsessively part! Can’t wait to have you here and hopefully see a couple of newsworthy stories during your time here. Travel safely and thanks for your comments. Rich
Hi Mary Sue, so when exactly are you heading down to Londolozi. Looking forward to sharing the magic with you!
Hi Adam,
We arrive on Monday, Aug. 15th. I’m pretty much bouncing off the walls in anticipation (like a 6 year old on Christmas eve)