A Mozambican nature park welcomed its first white rhinos in 40 years on Friday, July 1, after 19 of the endangered animals completed a 1,600 kilometer truck journey from South Africa, conservationists said.
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Rhinos have been reintroduced to Zinave National Park as part of an initiative to restore wildlife and boost the local economy, which has seen 2,400 animals of 14 different species released into the park since 2015. this 408,000 km2 park located in the south of the country had been decimated by poaching and a decades-long civil war that ended in 1992.
Redesigned and rehabilitated park
“
The return of the rhino helps showcase Zinave as an exciting new tourist destination in Mozambique
,” said Werner Myburgh, CEO of Peace Parks Foundation (PPF), the environmental group that spearheaded the project.
Zinave is now the only national park in Mozambique to house all the "
Big Five
" of African wildlife - elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo, Werner Myburgh said in a statement.
The rhinos were trucked from South Africa to Zinave over several days in June, in what the PPF says is the longest road transfer of rhinos ever.
On Friday, some of the animals were released from their enclosures, called "
bomas
", in a sanctuary with tight security to protect them from poachers, in a ceremony attended by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his Environment Minister, Ivete Maibaze.
"
Significant and notable progress has been made in the redevelopment and rehabilitation of our national parks over the past decade
," Ivete Maibaze said in a statement.
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The PPF plans to more than double the park's rhino population over the next three years, adding more white and black specimens.
The white rhinoceros is listed as Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), while its black cousin is considered Critically Endangered.