After forty years of becoming extinct, white rhinos return to Mozambique in South Africa. These 19 rhinos have travelled a total distance of 1,600 km by road on a truck and were reintroduced in Zinave National Park. This is considered the longest-ever translocation by road of rhinos to have ever taken place. The transportation took several days.
Mozambique’s Zinave National Park is 4,00,000 hectares and has reintroduced more than 2,300 different animals. It is the only national park to provide shelter to all Big Five African game animals – elephants, rhino, lion, leopard ad buffalo. The Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) conservation group is planning to relocate 40 rhinos to Mozambique over the next two years.
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As per reports, Kester Vickery, a conservationist who looked after the translocation of rhinos said,” Rhinos are important to the ecosystem, which is one of the reasons why we're moving them all this distance and doing all this effort to get them there.” The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified white rhinos as near-threatened whereas black African rhinos are classified as critically endangered.
This is an initiative to boost local tourism and bring new life to the park. As per Mozambican Environment Minister, this historic translocation will help in the country’s attempt to make tourism eco-friendly. It is also an attempt to save the endangered species by shifting them to a safer environment where they can attempt to increase their population.
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In May 2021, Zimbabwe, the neighbouring region, reintroduced rhino at Gonarezhou National Park for the first time after 30 years.
