Rwanda To Receive Five Black Rhinos

Rwanda’s Akagera National Park will next week received five eastern black rhinos from Europe. Currently there are only around 1,000 eastern black rhinos remaining in Africa, as the population has been under threat from poachers.

The five rhinos have been sourced from zoos in the Czech Republic, Britain and Denmark and will travel together from the Safari Park Dvur Kralove in the Czech Republic. The crash includes three female and two male rhinos.

The project is a collaboration between the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), the Government of Rwanda and conservation NGO African Parks.

Commenting on the translocation Programme Coordinator for black rhino at the EAZA and CEO of Chester Zoo, UK, Mark Pilgrim has stated, Large scale cooperation between EAZA zoos has resulted in a healthy, sustainable population of Eastern Black Rhino. This means we can now take a major step towards protecting the future of the species in the wild."

Ahead of the 30-hour long transfer the rhinos have undergone months of preparation to help prepare them. They will initially be kept in wooden enclosures, before being moved into larger enclosures within protected areas and then finally set free to roam.

Rwanda’s Akagera National Park previously reintroduced 18 rhinos to the park in 2017.