Some five Eastern black rhinos that were translocated to Rwanda from European zoos in June this year have been successfully released into a wider enclosure as part of a carefully managed process to acclimatise them to their new home in Akagera National Park in Eastern Rwanda, according to an official statement obtained Wednesday by APA in Kigali.
The three females and two male rhinos, aged between two and nine years old, came from Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, the Czech Republic’s Dvur Kralove safari park and Ree Park Safari in Denmark, the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) said.
Reports said the animals being released are the descendants of rhinos that – more than 40 years ago – were taken from East Africa and transported to Europe’s zoos for display.
The Eastern black rhinos arrive in Rwanda after a batch of other rhinos, which were brought to Rwanda from South Africa in 2017.
The translocation of the rhinos is the result of what has been described as “unique collaboration between the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), the Government of Rwanda and conservation NGO African Park, it said.
Since 2010, Akagera National Park in Eastern Rwanda has undergone a revival, with poaching practically eliminated, allowing for key species to be reintroduced, including lions in 2015, which have since tripled in number, and rhinos in 2017, a decade after they were last seen in Rwanda.
CU/abj/APA