The famous Frankfurt Zoo in Germany donated an 800-kilogram black rhino this week to South Africa Wednesday where it will help replenish the threatened rhino population in the country’s national parks.

The three-year-old female rhino named Hama left Frankfurt airport on Wednesday en route to Johannesburg accompanied by a trainer and a veterinarian. Hama will be transported to Kruger National Park and after getting adjusted to the climate, will move to Marakele National Park.

In the 1980s there were only about 20 black rhinos were left in South Africa but that through conservation programs, the population had bounced back to about 350. Hama’s older sisters Akura and Dzimba were also sent to South Africa some years ago. Although Dzimba later died, Akura has since had a daughter in Marakele. According to German news reports, Akura was the first black rhino born in a zoo that was resettled in the wild and bore young.

Namibia wants a ban on the international ivory trade to be lifted to allow regular exports of 2 tonnes of ivory a year the agency controlling trade in endangered species announced in Geneva. Along with South Africa, Namibia has also requested the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to consider controlled trade in products made from elephant leather and hair, CITES said in a statement. The envisaged ivory export quota would be derived largely from natural deaths of elephants but would also cover crafted ivory products, according to the Namibian ministry of environment and tourism.

Under the CITES treaty, international trade in the products of
endangered plant and animal species like elephants is banned, apart from few strictly controlled exceptions. The 167 member countries of CITES will meet in Bangkok on 12 October to review the measures. Namibia’s elephant population allegedly increased from an estimated 5,400 in 1987 to more than 11 000 last year, Namibia stated in its application. Namibia said it needed to balance the growing elephant population with the loss of its natural habitat, especially outside conservation areas. CITES a few years ago authorised one-off international sales of existing stockpiles, including from Namibia. Stocks of about 40 tonnes of tusks are kept in Namibia, according to CITES. Natural deaths bring in more than 1.4 t ivory a year, the ministry said.

A one-off agreement reached in November 2002, allowing Namibia, South
Africa and Botswana to sell off stockpiles of 60 tonnes of ivory, has not yet happened.