More than 12 months after it was first reported by Fiona Macleod in the Mail & Guardian of 4 June 2001 that a highly endangered black rhino female called Baixinha was to be hunted by a Norwegian hunter for $60 000, she has come out victorious in a supreme court battle lodged by the SanWild Wildlife Trust to save her from a hunter’s bullet.

Judge Daniels yesterday ruled that:
The decision by the Department of Finance, Environmental Affairs and Tourism not to grant Baixinha a permit to live out the rest of her natural life in the pristine wilds of the Limpopo Province be set aside and
That the permit be issued to allow this very special black rhino to be imported into the province and held at the SanWild Wildlife Sanctuary.
The court further ruled that two special conditions be put on the permit to hold the rhino i.e.
That she may only be held at the farm of the SanWild Wildlife Trust close to Gravelotte
That no black rhino of a species other than the species bicornis michaeli is introduced onto the farm with a view to breed with the rhino.
The following people and organization have been instrumental in helping the SanWild Wildlife Trust to assist Baixinha: Care for the Wild & The Born Free Foundation (United Kingdom) who paid Baixinha’s veterinary expenses since 1 January 2002, the well known South African actress, Charlize Theron who paid for the construction of Baixinha’s holding boma at SanWild and the Wildlife Action Group who assisted the Trust with our battle to save Baixinha for future generations.

BACK GROUND INFORMATION:
A permit to hunt this unfortunate creature had already been issued by the Department’s North West Province, but fortunately international outrage prevented the destruction of this magnificent and very special rhino cow.
Negotiations with the legal owner of the rhino, David Laylin secured a passage for Baixinha to live out the rest of her life in a natural habitat sanctuary. However the South African Department of Finance, Environmental Affairs and Tourism ignored repeated attempts by the SanWild Wildlife Trust to obtain permits translocate the rhino to their sanctuary in the Northern Transvaal.
The authorities in Pietersburg believe that Baixinha would threaten indigenous South African rhino populations as they regard her as an alien organism and have turned down four permit applications by the SanWild Wildlife Trust. Another of their main concerns was that if they allowed the humanitarian rescue of an individual animal, it would set a dangerous precedent in people wanting to assist wild animals in need of help.
Baixinha’s physical condition started deteriorating and she collapsed twice since the middle of last year. Wildlife veterinarians diagnosed stress and loneliness as probable causes for her deterioration. In August 2001 a veterinary examination showed a worm burden, but she responded positively to de-worming treatment. However she suffered a relapse and was not eating well and preferred to stay recumbent.
Being 27 years old, she is fairly old and more prone to stress and disease.
A wildlife vet, Dr. Pierre Bester, paid by the SanWild Wildlife started treating her for gastric ulcerations (bleeding stomach ulcers) and acute heart failure. Fortunately she is responding well to treatment. Dr. Pierre Bester said that, “She has no stimulation and is suffering from boredom” and that this condition was aggravating her condition.
The SanWild Wildlife Trust had persuaded Mr. David Laylin to allow the translocation of the rhino to the wildlife sanctuary in the Northern Province on the understanding that funds will be raised to repay some of his expenses. Both parties had signed an agreement to this affect.
Sonja Meintjies, Assistant Director for Biodiversity Utilization in Pretoria confirmed that although no country has a CITES hunting quota for black rhino a permit to hunt such an animal will be issued on request if a province can prove that the hunt will not be detrimental to the survival of the species in the wild and if a CITES import permit is received from the hunter’s country of origin. This condition applies to both rhino and cheetah, and could allow tame and even highly endangered animals to be hunted under canned conditions. Despite this loophole in the Cites legislation their office refused to intervene in this matter and have advised the Northern Province authorities that the decision to grant or decline the permit will remain with the authorities in Pietersburg.
In January 2002 the SanWild Wildlife Trust learned confidentially that there were new hunters that were offering large sums of money to shoot Baixinha. In June this year we were informed that unless a permit could be obtained to move the rhino, Mr. Laylin would reconsider his position and that Baixinha would be put up as a hunter’s trophy once again.
Another issue of great concern was the very low temperatures experienced in the Johannesburg area. The weather buro stated that this was the coldest temperature experienced in South Africa in 62 years. Our wildlife veterinarian and other trustees felt that the very cold weather could cause Baixinha to become very ill once again.
Earlier this year a request for a personal meeting with Minister Vali Moosa to present him with an international petition with 36 000 signatures asking for him to intervene in this matter had fallen on deaf ears.
Although a review application was already in progress an urgent application was lodged in the Supreme Court on Monday the 1 July 2002 in light of the changed circumstances.
The case was finalized on Friday 5 July 2002.

LOUISE JOUBERT
FOUNDER TRUSTEE
+27 (0) 3451878 tel/fax
+27 (0) 83 3103882 cellular
sanwild@pixie.co.za
www.sanwild.org

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