Twenty black rhinos have been relocated from KwaZulu-Natal to Botswana in a major conservation effort aimed at establishing a new breeding population and strengthening the future of one of Africa’s most threatened species.
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife successfully donated the rhinos to Deception Valley Private Reserve in Botswana as part of the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project (BRREP), a partnership between Ezemvelo and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
The black rhino is classified as critically endangered, making the establishment of new, genetically diverse populations an important part of efforts to protect the species from extinction.
The 20 rhinos were captured about eight weeks ago across seven game reserves. Animals from Ezemvelo-managed reserves were combined with rhinos from existing BRREP sites to create a genetically diverse founder population before the group was moved to its new home.
The Botswana translocation marks the 18th new black rhino population established through BRREP since the project began in 2003.
Ezemvelo CEO Sihle Mkhize said the organisation was proud to be involved in the project and hoped similar conservation efforts would continue while the species remains critically endangered.
Moving 20 rhinos together, rather than establishing a new population with smaller numbers over several translocations, is intended to give the animals a stronger foundation from which to settle, reproduce and eventually expand into surrounding habitat.
The approach also allows conservation organisations to establish black rhino populations in new reserves and habitats across the region while ensuring the animals are properly managed and monitored.
Ezemvelo and WWF have undertaken numerous black rhino translocations as part of broader efforts to increase national and regional populations and reduce the species’ risk of extinction.
The animals will continue to be monitored after their relocation. Under custodianship agreements, calves born at new reserves may eventually be allocated either to the reserve where they were born or back to Ezemvelo.
This process can take five to six years, allowing newly established populations time to settle and grow before allocations are ma
