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White Rhinos Avoided Camps and the Boundary Fence While Tracking Seasonal Resources in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi

White rhinoceros in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, South Africa
Research · Ecology

White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa used flatter, low-lying parts of the landscape most strongly, but their distribution also shifted with season and human infrastructure. They occurred less often near staff and tourist camps and near the park boundary fence.

The researchers analysed 6,632 rhino observations from aerial surveys between 2012 and 2023. They compared the recorded locations with randomly available locations across the study area, using resource-related factors such as terrain, rainfall and fire together with human-related factors including camps, roads, the boundary fence and poaching intensity. Because the comparison used random available locations rather than true absences, the models describe relative likelihood of occurrence rather than an absolute probability of finding a rhino.

Terrain and seasonal resources strongly shaped where rhinos occurred

Rhinos occurred most often in low-lying basin habitat and became much less likely as terrain grew more rugged. Their use of the landscape also changed seasonally: midland and upland areas were used more during the dry season, while the low-lying basin was used more strongly during the wet season. Rainfall modified this pattern, particularly the use of uplands.

Fire also mattered, but not in one simple direction. Recently burned areas had higher rhino occurrence during dry seasons with low rainfall, while during wet seasons with high rainfall rhinos occurred more often in areas burned during the previous dry season. These patterns are consistent with rhinos tracking changes in grass resources through the year.

Rhinos used areas near camps and the boundary fence less

The relative likelihood of rhino occurrence increased with distance from camps and from the boundary fence. Evidence for lower occurrence near public tourist roads was weaker, while management tracks showed the opposite pattern, with higher rhino occurrence nearby.

Graphs showing white rhinoceros occurrence in relation to camps, boundary fence, roads and other human-related variables
White-rhino occurrence increased with distance from camps and the boundary fence, while poaching intensity did not explain the spatial pattern. Figure 3 from Staegemann et al. (2026), CC BY 4.0.

Across the variables tested, terrain ruggedness explained the most variation in rhino distribution, followed by distance from the boundary fence and landscape position. A model that included both resources and human-related risk explained more variation than a model based on resources alone.

Poaching hotspots did not predict where rhinos occurred

Spatial poaching intensity did not explain rhino occurrence, and the same broad result held when years with lower and higher poaching activity were analysed separately. The authors suggest that poaching may provide few predictable sensory cues that surviving rhinos can use to avoid particular areas, unlike camps and other regularly noisy infrastructure.

The models still left substantial variation unexplained, and the authors note that several effects were small. The study therefore supports a role for both resources and human disturbance without implying that these factors fully determine where rhinos occur.

The authors argue that avoidance of human infrastructure can effectively reduce the amount of protected habitat available to white rhinos. More broadly, the results challenge the idea that adult megaherbivores are shaped mainly by resources because they face little non-human predation risk.

Sources and image credit

  1. Staegemann, E. S. M., Kuiper, T., Druce, D. J., Kerley, G. I. H., Mbongwa, S., & Cromsigt, J. P. G. M. (2026). Resource availability and human activity shape the landscape distribution of white rhinoceros, a highly threatened African megaherbivore. Oecologia, 208, 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-025-05845-7

Image: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons — white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) in Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park, South Africa, photographed 11 November 2017. Illustrative photograph from the study landscape. · CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Source

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