A Homecoming for Gonarezhou's Black Rhinos
Zimbabwe has a new stronghold for black rhinos 12 years in the making.
Celebrating Rhinos for World Rhino Day
With their trademark horns and massive physique, rhinos are fascinating and lovable creatures. World Rhino Day is a chance to celebrate these exceptional animals and bring awareness to their plight.
Less than 25,000 rhinos remain across Africa and Asia, with some rhino species numbering fewer than 100 individuals.
Poaching for their horns and lack of safe habitat continuously threaten the future of these distinctive giants. But it’s not too late to save rhinos. This is why one year ago, the Wildlife Conservation Network created the Rhino Recovery Fund to protect rhinos from wildlife crime and restore their landscapes to promote their recovery.
In just one year, thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the RRF has disbursed nearly $1.5 million in support to 19 rhino conservation projects across nine countries. These projects have had a positive impact on all five rhino species in Africa and Asia.
The Rhino Recovery Fund works to help all five rhino species recover their populations.
Zimbabwe’s Black Rhinos
Black rhinos are Critically Endangered with less than 6,000 individuals remaining in the wild.
Zimbabwe is home to the fourth largest population of black rhinos in the world, after South Africa, Namibia, and Kenya. This makes Zimbabwe an important setting for rhino conservation, and in recent years, the Zimbabwean government has collaborated extensively with conservation groups to safeguard their black rhinos.
Establishing a new, viable black rhino population in Zimbabwe from different genetic sources will help this species recover its numbers. This year, the RRF supported a major reintroduction project designed to do just that.
One of the primary causes of rhino decline is poaching, driven by the illegal trade of rhino horns.
The History of Rhinos in Gonarezhou
1940s
The last of Gonarezhou National Park’s original black rhino population vanished due to poaching.
1970s
A reintroduction effort was launched, bringing 77 black rhinos from the Zambezi Valley, which was under high poaching pressure at the time, to safer habitat in Gonarezhou. This new rhino population flourished, growing to 140 individuals in the first few years.
1980s
Civil war started in neighboring Mozambique, destabilizing the region and lowering Gonarezhou’s security. The park was closed to the public, and the lack of revenue resulted in fewer protections for the rhinos. This emboldened poachers and allowed them to prey upon the population.
1990s
Black rhinos disappeared from the park due to poaching for a second time.
2021
Rhinos have been absent from Gonarezhou for nearly three decades, but that has changed with this latest reintroduction project.
Returning Black Rhinos to the Park
The tragic loss of Gonarezhou’s second black rhino population taught conservationists and law enforcement valuable lessons.
In 2007, Frankfurt Zoological Society , an RRF grantee, and the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority joined to form the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust (GCT).
Determined to successfully return black rhinos to the park, GCT spent 12 years bolstering Gonarezhou’s security, building relationships with surrounding communities, and designing a long term management strategy to maintain protections in and around the park. This involved creating a platform to invest in park infrastructure, resources, equipment, and personnel.
With over a decade of careful planning and additional support provided by the RRF, GCT was finally ready to launch its reintroduction project earlier this year.
They selected 29 black rhinos from three well-established populations in Zimbabwe—15 from the Bubye Valley Conservancy, 10 from the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve, and four from the Savé Valley Conservancy.
In May 2021, GCT assembled their expert team of veterinarians, Zimbabwean law enforcement, and ecologists and began the week-long relocation process. As Director of the RRF and a wildlife veterinarian, Markus Hofmeyr played an important role in this milestone by helping plan and support the capture and rewilding of the rhinos, which consisted of four steps.
1. Securing the Rhinos
Airplanes were used to locate the black rhinos. From high above in a helicopter, veterinarians fired a tranquilizer dart into each rhino. Once fully immobilized, the team would check the rhino’s vitals and prepare it for relocation.
2. Transporting the Rhinos to Gonarezhou
GCT’s team then carefully loaded the immobilized rhino into a large metal crate, which was lifted by crane onto the back of a flatbed truck. This truck would transport the rhino for several hours across Zimbabwe to Gonarezhou National Park, where it would be gently unloaded into an enclosure.
3. Housing the Rhinos
Each rhino was monitored in a spacious enclosure, known as a boma, specially built for the reintroduction project. The rhinos remained in these bomas up to several weeks to ensure they were healthy and acclimatized to their new surroundings.
The orphaned rhino in the above video is being released in Gonarezhou National Park and getting a second chance at life in the wild.
4. Releasing the Rhinos into the Park
Once the monitoring period was over, GCT released each rhino into Gonarezhou to roam freely. The team staggered each release so that the rhinos could comfortably explore their new home and find food and water without distracting each other. Each release went off without a hitch and the black rhinos have already adjusted well to Gonarezhou’s habitat.
A Lasting Source of Hope
The reintroduction of black rhinos to Gonarezhou is a true conservation landmark.
It took many years to successfully plan and execute this complex operation, and it will take several more years to properly gauge its results, but GCT and the RRF are already very proud of what has been achieved.
Rhino horn remains a valuable commodity, so the threat of poaching will likely always be present. To avoid history repeating itself, GCT has taken extraordinary measures to make the park safer than it has ever been. They are in communication with local and regional intelligence networks, receive support from law enforcement, and have trained an extensive ranger team to regularly monitor every rhino and react to threats.
With this reintroduction, Gonarezhou is now home to more black rhinos than any other national park in Zimbabwe.
This is a source of great pride for the Zimbabwean government and their citizens, who see these rhinos as a symbol of national heritage. Local communities around the park have pledged to help GCT’s team keep an eye out for threats, and have even given names to a few of their new rhino neighbors.
Since many of the relocated rhinos were pregnant, there is hope that the population will grow quickly. GCT is eager to see this new rhino population’s impact on Gonarezhou’s ecosystem in the coming years. Most of all, these rhinos embody the hope that, despite once being lost to poaching, endangered wildlife can return to their rightful homes for a chance to thrive again.
After a nearly 30-year absence, black rhinos have returned as a flagship species to Gonarezhou.
This project will act as a template for future rhino reintroductions, with plans already in the works to replicate this success in other parts of Zimbabwe and perhaps even neighboring countries. The Rhino Recovery Fund will be there to support visionary efforts that help restore rhino populations to Africa’s landscapes.
You can make a difference for rhino conservation this #WorldRhinoDay by spreading the word on social media and supporting the Rhino Recovery Fund.
100% of all donations to the RRF go directly to the field to protect rhinos. To learn more or to make a gift, visit rhinorecoveryfund.org/chargewithus .
Thank you for supporting the Wildlife Conservation Network and the Rhino Recovery Fund .
