South Africa sends more rhinos to Zinave National Park

After previous successful translocations, more rhinos have been sent from South Africa to the Zinave National Park in Mozambique.

More rhinos move to Zinave National Park

Thanks to a successful rehabilitation project in 2022, white and black rhinos were translocated from South Africa to the Zinave National Park in Mozambique through the longest road transfer of rhinos ever done.

Now, an additional 10 rhinos have also been transported to the park, signalling a remarkable achievement for cross-border conservation, reports Tourism Update.

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The project, which is the third after last year’s cross-border rhino translocations, is the result of a collaborative partnership between Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC), Peace Parks Foundation, and Exxaro Resources, with the support of the Government of South Africa.

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The two previous successful rewilding attempts saw the relocation of 20 white and seven black rhinos from Exxaro’s private reserve in South Africa.

With this latest translocation, 10 more rhinos were moved from Manketti Game Reserve in South Africa to Zinave, including five black rhinos and five white rhinos.

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Peace Parks projects

Werner Myburgh, CEO of Peace Parks Foundation, said that they were marking a significant milestone with the successful rewilding of these rhinos.

“As Peace Parks celebrates a quarter of a century of existence and Zinave its golden jubilee, we’re marking a significant milestone with the successful rewilding of rhinos as a flagship species. This accomplishment signals that through public-private partnerships, the future of protected areas in Africa is very bright,” Myburgh said.

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To date, around 2,400 game animals representing 14 different species have been introduced to Zinave, including elephant, sable, giraffe, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, leopard and hyena.

According to Peace Parks, the concept of ‘rewilding’ is very important for sustainability.

“Rewilding is a vital component of restoring nature and ecological balance in large landscapes. By reintroducing wildlife to areas where the species once thrived, biodiversity is once again restored. The restoration and preservation of natural ecosystems is also recognised as one of the most effective tools we have in mitigating climate change and can increase global carbon uptake by up to 12 times.”

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