(Posted 17th May 2024)
As many of you know, in September 2023 we purchased the world’s largest captive rhino breeding operation which was facing financial collapse. In doing so, we had one clear intent: to rewild all 2000 rhino to well managed and secure areas, to establish or supplement strategic populations, and to help de-risk the future of the species, over the next ten years.
In the first move of this continent-wide effort, we have donated 40 rhino to the Munywana Conservancy in Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in support of the conservancy’s successful conservation and community efforts.
The Munywana Conservancy has a historic foundation: in 2007, 9,085 hectares of land were returned to its ancestral owners, the Makhasa and Mnqobokazi communities as part of South Africa’s land restitution process. Both communities requested that the land continue to be kept under conservation. Through this legacy, the Munywana Conservancy, now almost 30,000ha is upheld through a collaboration of community and private landowners that include the Makhasa Community Trust, the Mnqobokazi Community Trust, &Beyond Phinda and ZUKA Private Game Reserves.
Munywana offers a secure environment to support this reintroduction, which will bolster their current rhino population, enhance its genetic diversity and support tourism, which is a key driver of the local economy. This first translocation was carried out by our team together with &Beyond Phinda, and Conservation Solutions, and with the financial support for the move provided by WeWild Africa.
This translocation marks the beginning of the rewilding phase of Rhino Rewild, where the ultimate success for moving all these 2,000 rhino and their offspring to their natural habitat, lies in the existence of safe, well-protected and effectively managed areas across Africa, of which the Munywana Conservancy is an excellent example. For African Parks, Rhino Rewild is one of our most exciting and globally strategic conservation opportunities to date, where together with a multitude of governmental, conservation and community organisations, and key funders, we have the rare opportunity to help de-risk a species, and in the process help protect some of the most critical conservation areas in Africa for the benefit of people and wildlife.
To read more about this move, please visit our website. We will also be including updates specifically on Rhino Rewild over the coming months here: www.rhinorewild.org
Best regards,
Peter Fearnhead
CEO
African Parks
