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African rhinos to be flown to Australia to escape poachers

– Placed in quarantine –

Dearlove still faces a major logistical battle to bring his dream to reality.

South African and Australian authorities have imposed stringent requirements on moving the animals.

The rhinos will be placed in quarantine for two months before they board a cargo plane and then go straight into quarantine in a zoo in Sydney until being taken to the safari park.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done because there is some lack of clarity in the proposal that they have made,” South African Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa told AFP.

“Who bears the cost? It’s quite enormous. We still don’t have answers to such things.”

Internal and cross-border relocations of animals are not new in Africa.

Conservation group Rhinos Without Borders has been involved in moving at least 100 rhinos from South Africa to neighbouring Botswana in recent years.

Botswana is a favoured destination because its national parks are fiercely protected against poachers, many of whom are part of armed gangs based in Mozambique.

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In South Africa, the government this month stepped back from supporting a controversial campaign to legalise the international trade in rhino horn.

Some breeders say poaching could be halted by meeting the huge demand from Asia through legally “harvesting” horn from anaesthetised live rhinos.

For Dearlove, Australia may sound like an unlikely and faraway solution to save the rhino, but the climate is suitable – and the need is overwhelming.

“I’m sad that this is actually the situation which is being considered — because if the poaching would go away, there wouldn’t be a need for such a plan,” he said.

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