Rwanda said on Tuesday that 70 white rhinos had been successfully relocated to the Great Lakes nation, after a journey of some 3,000 kilometres from South Africa.
It was the largest ever relocation of rhinos, which can weigh up to two tonnes, Rwandan officials said.
Once abundant across sub-Saharan Africa, rhino numbers have dramatically fallen due to hunting by European colonisers and large-scale poaching.
The animals were transported in two loads of 35 – first aboard a Boeing 747, then by road – from South Africa's Munywana Conservancy to Akagera National Park in Rwanda, according to the Rwanda Development Board.
"A dedicated veterinary team will closely monitor their health and behaviour for several weeks to ensure proper adaptation to their new environment and management of any stress associated with the move," it added in a statement.
Breeding stronghold
The move was part of the African Parks rhino rewilding initiative, supported by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, which aims to support population growth and secure a new breeding stronghold in Rwanda.
According to the International Rhino Foundation, rhino poaching in Africa rose by 4 percent from 2022 to 2023, with at least 586 rhinos poached in 2023.
South Africa is home to most of the world's rhinos, including the critically endangered black rhino, and is a hotspot for poaching – driven by demand in Asia, where the horns are used in traditional medicine.
Rhino horn is highly sought after on the black market, where the price by weight rivals that of gold and cocaine.
African rhino numbers rise for first time in decade despite poaching
The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies, is now listed as "near threatened", with roughly 17,000 individuals remaining, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The northern white rhino has all but vanished, with just two females left alive, in Kenya.
At least 34 rhinos were killed each month, the South African environment minister said in May.
Dehorning to ward off poachers
In a bid to tackle the problem of poaching, conservationists in South Africa have turned to the procedure of "dehorning" rhinos.
The practice resulted in a nearly 80-percent reduction in the poaching of the animals during a seven-year study in a major South African conservation area, according to a report published in the journal Science last week.
Sawing off the sought-after horns also comes at a fraction of the cost of other counter-poaching measures such as deploying rangers or tracking dogs, according to the study.
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The study was carried out between 2017 and 2023 in 11 reserves around South Africa's famed Kruger National Park.
During this period, some 1,985 rhinos were poached in the reserves, despite €64 million being spent – mostly on reactive law enforcement measures which netted around 700 poachers.
In contrast, dehorning 2,284 rhinos cut poaching by 78 percent at just 1.2 percent of that cost.
(with AFP)
