Last year, the world’s largest captive southern white rhino breeding operation in South Africa was put up for auction. After receiving no bids, African Parks stepped in and purchased the farm and all its rhinos, with the goal of planning to relocate all 2,000 rhinos to well-managed protected areas across Africa over the next decade.
Last week, African Parks took their first major step of this endeavor, now known as “Rhino Rewild,” by relocating 40 of these southern white rhinos to Munywana Conservancy in South Africa. This operation was led by African Parks, with support from &Beyond Phinda and Conservation Solutions.
The Rhino Recovery Fund (RRF) has been an early collaborator in the Rhino Rewild project, providing African Parks with funding to implement a rewilding framework for this complex undertaking. Dr. Markus Hofmeyr, Director of the RRF, was also recently asked to sit on the African Parks Rhino Rewild Advisory Committee to help advise their team on the risks and benefits of applications that they receive from protected areas across Africa to receive some of these rhinos.
Munywana Conservancy has also received support from the RRF in the past to help them maintain effective protections for their significant rhino population, so this secure protected area—which spans nearly 74,000 acres—will be a safe home for the 40 relocated rhinos. These new additions will also provide valuable genetic diversity to the existing population.
The RRF will continue to support African Parks and their Rhino Rewild collaborators as they continue with the translocation of the remaining southern white rhinos in this project, which will bolster rhino recovery and conservation efforts across Africa.