ZooCheck New Zealand

IN-SITU vs EX-SITU COST COMPARISON

Annual captive management of Black Rhino per animal: US$16,000.
Annual cost of protecting appropriate wild habitat to support one Rhino: US$1,000.

Therefore, 16 Rhino can be supported in the wild, for the same cost of keeping a single Rhino in a zoo!

It has been estimated that it can cost over 100 times more to maintain a group of elephants in captivity for a year than to conserve a similar group, and their entire ecosystem, in-situ for the same period.

Garamba National Park, Zaire - Size 492,000ha. Annual Operating costs for the Garamba National Park - US$269,500. Equivalent to the cost of keeping 16 Rhino in captivity.

The species protected in the Garamba National Park include:-

31 Northern White Rhino
4,000 Elephant
30,000 Buffalo
The ENTIRE giraffe population of Zaire
14 other ungulate species
16 carnivore species
1 primate species
93 other small or medium-sized animal species

Source: Alibhai, S.K & Jewell, Z.C. "Saving the Last Rhino: In Situ Conservation or Captive Breeding?" Rhinowatch, in press 1993.

Link to main page.