Latest news with #AfricanParks
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
70 rhinos reared at controversial captive breeding farm set free in Rwanda
Editor's Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolex's Perpetual Planet Initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action. Transporting the world's second largest land mammal halfway across the second largest continent isn't exactly easy. But in a 3,400-kilometer (2,100-mile) journey that involved crates, cranes, trucks, and a Boeing 747, 70 captive bred southern white rhinos were moved from South Africa to Rwanda's Akagera National Park in early June as part of an initiative to 'rewild' them. 'Moving 70 rhinos across the continent is high-risk stuff,' Martin Rickelton, the head of translocations for African Parks, told CNN. So far, the animals appear to be doing well in their new home. 'All reports are good,' Rickelton adds. The creatures, which can weigh over 2,000 kilograms (more than 4,000 pounds), originated from a controversial breeding program started in the 1990s by property developer John Hume. Hume, who spent years lobbying for the legalization of the rhino horn trade, amassed stockpiles of horn, obtained by trimming them without harming the animals, with the aim of flooding the market to driver poachers out of business and to fund conservation efforts. But he ran out of money, and with the horn trade still banned under international law, he put the rhinos up for sale in 2023. He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the time that he'd spent around $150 million on the project – with surveillance being the largest cost. 'I'm left with nothing except 2,000 rhinos and 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of land.' He didn't receive a single bid. African Parks — a conservation nonprofit that manages 23 protected areas across the continent — stepped in to acquire for an undisclosed sum what was the largest rhino captive breeding operation in the world, with plans to 'rewild' the animals over 10 years. The translocation marked the first cross-continental move for African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative. 'It's a very important milestone,' says Taylor Tench, a senior wildlife policy analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency US, who wasn't involved in the relocation. 'This is definitely a big development with respect to African Parks' efforts.' Today, there remain only about 17,000 southern white rhinos in Africa and they're classified as 'near threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. That means the 2,000 southern white rhinos that African Parks bought, and plans to spread around the continent, comprise more than 10% of the remaining population. Although the international trade of rhino horn has been banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 1977, demand from consumers in Asia who see it as a status symbol, or falsely believe it can cure ailments ranging from hangovers to cancer, is still driving poaching. Poachers sometimes kill a rhino outright, or tranquilize it before cutting off its horn, sometimes hacking off a large portion of the animal's face, leaving it bleeding to death. In South Africa, where the majority of the population lives, 420 rhinos were poached in 2024. More than 100 were killed in the first three months of this year. Tench says that rhino poaching was rampant in the continent from 2012 to 2015, and a 'lot has been accomplished since then.' He added that Kenya lost no rhinos last year and that poaching has dropped significantly in Zimbabwe. Today, poaching is mostly concentrated in South Africa and Namibia, he says. To better address the issue, Tench says more government resources should be dedicated to addressing the organized criminal networks behind the poaching and international trading of rhino horn, and to increased international cooperation. Rickelton says there are a number of future relocation projects in various stages of discussion and planning. He adds that a strong framework is in place to ensure the locations that receive the rhinos provide a suitable habitat, security to keep the animals safe, and enough funding to care for them. The move to Akagera National Park took more than a year and a half of planning and approvals. And the cost of moving each rhino, including three years of monitoring and management afterwards, is about $50,000 (the move was backed by the Howard G. Buffet Foundation). The animals were first moved from the breeding program facility to the South African private game reserve Munywana Conservancy, to expose them to conditions more like Akagera. Then, the rhinos were loaded into individual steel crates, driven to an airport in Durban, South Africa, and carefully loaded by crane onto a Boeing 747. After arrival in Kigali, Rwanda, the rhinos made the final leg of their journey by road. Now, the rhinos need to adapt to their new environment. They'll be monitored by a veterinary team for several weeks. Measures like a canine unit to reduce poaching are in place in Akagera, which has reduced poaching to 'near zero' levels, according to the park. There's reason for optimism. In 2021, African Parks moved 30 rhinos to Akagera from a private game reserve in South Africa. Since, they've had 11 offspring. With the addition of 70 more rhinos, 'we've now established a genetically viable herd of rhino,' says Rickelton. He says that seeing the rhinos emerge from their crates at the end of the journey 'makes months and months of really hard work and frustration and challenges really worth it.' Rickelton adds: 'It's a story of hope in a world of not too much positive.'
CNN
11 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
70 rhinos reared at controversial South African captive breeding farm set free
Transporting the world's second largest land mammal halfway across the second largest continent isn't exactly easy. But in a 3,400-kilometer (2,100-mile) journey that involved crates, cranes, trucks, and a Boeing 747, 70 captive bred southern white rhinos were moved from South Africa to Rwanda's Akagera National Park in early June as part of an initiative to 'rewild' them. 'Moving 70 rhinos across the continent is high-risk stuff,' Martin Rickelton, the head of translocations for African Parks, told CNN. So far, the animals appear to be doing well in their new home. 'All reports are good,' Rickelton adds. The creatures, which can weigh over 2,000 kilograms (more than 4,000 pounds), originated from a controversial breeding program started in the 1990s by property developer John Hume. Hume, who spent years lobbying for the legalization of the rhino horn trade, amassed stockpiles of horn, obtained by trimming them without harming the animals, with the aim of flooding the market to driver poachers out of business and to fund conservation efforts. But he ran out of money, and with the horn trade still banned under international law, he put the rhinos up for sale in 2023. He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the time that he'd spent around $150 million on the project – with surveillance being the largest cost. 'I'm left with nothing except 2,000 rhinos and 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of land.' He didn't receive a single bid. African Parks — a conservation nonprofit that manages 23 protected areas across the continent — stepped in to acquire for an undisclosed sum what was the largest rhino captive breeding operation in the world, with plans to 'rewild' the animals over 10 years. The translocation marked the first cross-continental move for African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative. 'It's a very important milestone,' says Taylor Tench, a senior wildlife policy analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency US, who wasn't involved in the relocation. 'This is definitely a big development with respect to African Parks' efforts.' Today, there remain only about 17,000 southern white rhinos in Africa and they're classified as 'near threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. That means the 2,000 southern white rhinos that African Parks bought, and plans to spread around the continent, comprise more than 10% of the remaining population. Although the international trade of rhino horn has been banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 1977, demand from consumers in Asia who see it as a status symbol, or falsely believe it can cure ailments ranging from hangovers to cancer, is still driving poaching. Poachers sometimes kill a rhino outright, or tranquilize it before cutting off its horn, sometimes hacking off a large portion of the animal's face, leaving it bleeding to death. In South Africa, where the majority of the population lives, 420 rhinos were poached in 2024. More than 100 were killed in the first three months of this year. Tench says that rhino poaching was rampant in the continent from 2012 to 2015, and a 'lot has been accomplished since then.' He added that Kenya lost no rhinos last year and that poaching has dropped significantly in Zimbabwe. Today, poaching is mostly concentrated in South Africa and Namibia, he says. To better address the issue, Tench says more government resources should be dedicated to addressing the organized criminal networks behind the poaching and international trading of rhino horn, and to increased international cooperation. Rickelton says there are a number of future relocation projects in various stages of discussion and planning. He adds that a strong framework is in place to ensure the locations that receive the rhinos provide a suitable habitat, security to keep the animals safe, and enough funding to care for them. The move to Akagera National Park took more than a year and a half of planning and approvals. And the cost of moving each rhino, including three years of monitoring and management afterwards, is about $50,000 (the move was backed by the Howard G. Buffet Foundation). The animals were first moved from the breeding program facility to the South African private game reserve Munywana Conservancy, to expose them to conditions more like Akagera. Then, the rhinos were loaded into individual steel crates, driven to an airport in Durban, South Africa, and carefully loaded by crane onto a Boeing 747. After arrival in Kigali, Rwanda, the rhinos made the final leg of their journey by road. Now, the rhinos need to adapt to their new environment. They'll be monitored by a veterinary team for several weeks. Measures like a canine unit to reduce poaching are in place in Akagera, which has reduced poaching to 'near zero' levels, according to the park. There's reason for optimism. In 2021, African Parks moved 30 rhinos to Akagera from a private game reserve in South Africa. Since, they've had 11 offspring. With the addition of 70 more rhinos, 'we've now established a genetically viable herd of rhino,' says Rickelton. He says that seeing the rhinos emerge from their crates at the end of the journey 'makes months and months of really hard work and frustration and challenges really worth it.' Rickelton adds: 'It's a story of hope in a world of not too much positive.'
CNN
12 hours ago
- Business
- CNN
70 rhinos reared at controversial South African captive breeding farm set free
Transporting the world's second largest land mammal halfway across the second largest continent isn't exactly easy. But in a 3,400-kilometer (2,100-mile) journey that involved crates, cranes, trucks, and a Boeing 747, 70 captive bred southern white rhinos were moved from South Africa to Rwanda's Akagera National Park in early June as part of an initiative to 'rewild' them. 'Moving 70 rhinos across the continent is high-risk stuff,' Martin Rickelton, the head of translocations for African Parks, told CNN. So far, the animals appear to be doing well in their new home. 'All reports are good,' Rickelton adds. The creatures, which can weigh over 2,000 kilograms (more than 4,000 pounds), originated from a controversial breeding program started in the 1990s by property developer John Hume. Hume, who spent years lobbying for the legalization of the rhino horn trade, amassed stockpiles of horn, obtained by trimming them without harming the animals, with the aim of flooding the market to driver poachers out of business and to fund conservation efforts. But he ran out of money, and with the horn trade still banned under international law, he put the rhinos up for sale in 2023. He told Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the time that he'd spent around $150 million on the project – with surveillance being the largest cost. 'I'm left with nothing except 2,000 rhinos and 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) of land.' He didn't receive a single bid. African Parks — a conservation nonprofit that manages 23 protected areas across the continent — stepped in to acquire for an undisclosed sum what was the largest rhino captive breeding operation in the world, with plans to 'rewild' the animals over 10 years. The translocation marked the first cross-continental move for African Parks' Rhino Rewild initiative. 'It's a very important milestone,' says Taylor Tench, a senior wildlife policy analyst at the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency US, who wasn't involved in the relocation. 'This is definitely a big development with respect to African Parks' efforts.' Today, there remain only about 17,000 southern white rhinos in Africa and they're classified as 'near threatened' on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. That means the 2,000 southern white rhinos that African Parks bought, and plans to spread around the continent, comprise more than 10% of the remaining population. Although the international trade of rhino horn has been banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 1977, demand from consumers in Asia who see it as a status symbol, or falsely believe it can cure ailments ranging from hangovers to cancer, is still driving poaching. Poachers sometimes kill a rhino outright, or tranquilize it before cutting off its horn, sometimes hacking off a large portion of the animal's face, leaving it bleeding to death. In South Africa, where the majority of the population lives, 420 rhinos were poached in 2024. More than 100 were killed in the first three months of this year. Tench says that rhino poaching was rampant in the continent from 2012 to 2015, and a 'lot has been accomplished since then.' He added that Kenya lost no rhinos last year and that poaching has dropped significantly in Zimbabwe. Today, poaching is mostly concentrated in South Africa and Namibia, he says. To better address the issue, Tench says more government resources should be dedicated to addressing the organized criminal networks behind the poaching and international trading of rhino horn, and to increased international cooperation. Rickelton says there are a number of future relocation projects in various stages of discussion and planning. He adds that a strong framework is in place to ensure the locations that receive the rhinos provide a suitable habitat, security to keep the animals safe, and enough funding to care for them. The move to Akagera National Park took more than a year and a half of planning and approvals. And the cost of moving each rhino, including three years of monitoring and management afterwards, is about $50,000 (the move was backed by the Howard G. Buffet Foundation). The animals were first moved from the breeding program facility to the South African private game reserve Munywana Conservancy, to expose them to conditions more like Akagera. Then, the rhinos were loaded into individual steel crates, driven to an airport in Durban, South Africa, and carefully loaded by crane onto a Boeing 747. After arrival in Kigali, Rwanda, the rhinos made the final leg of their journey by road. Now, the rhinos need to adapt to their new environment. They'll be monitored by a veterinary team for several weeks. Measures like a canine unit to reduce poaching are in place in Akagera, which has reduced poaching to 'near zero' levels, according to the park. There's reason for optimism. In 2021, African Parks moved 30 rhinos to Akagera from a private game reserve in South Africa. Since, they've had 11 offspring. With the addition of 70 more rhinos, 'we've now established a genetically viable herd of rhino,' says Rickelton. He says that seeing the rhinos emerge from their crates at the end of the journey 'makes months and months of really hard work and frustration and challenges really worth it.' Rickelton adds: 'It's a story of hope in a world of not too much positive.'
Daily Maverick
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Loaded for Bear: African Parks has disgracefully sent more SA rhinos to repressive Rwanda
Much of Africa's wildlife lies within the borders of states with questionable governance or human rights records. But some lines can be drawn in the sand. The Kigali regime stands out for the sheer scale of its repression and the regional instability it has unleashed. Many conservation groups in Africa have a human rights problem. Pointedly, they often stand accused of being more concerned about the plight of Africa's animals than that of its people. This perception has been further entrenched by African Parks' announcement this week that it has just translocated another 70 white rhinos from South Africa to Rwanda – a sinister state that has been credibly linked to the killing of dissidents on South African soil. When African Parks, a Johannesburg-based NGO, announced in 2021 that it had relocated 30 white rhinos to Rwanda's Akagera National Park, I criticised it at the time in this publication, noting that those rhinos would be safer than the country's dissidents. That observation still holds and, if anything, Rwanda under the autocratic rule of Paul Kagame has become even more of a pariah state with its documented support for the M23 rebels in neighbouring DRC. The diabolical nature of the Rwandan regime under Kagame has been clinically dissected in veteran journalist Michela Wrong's troubling 2021 book, Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad. 'Do Not Disturb' was the sign placed on the room door at the posh Sandton Hotel where Patrick Karegeya, once Rwanda's head of external intelligence, was found murdered more than a decade ago. But what's the murder of a dissident or two or three – or a dozen for that matter – between friends? African Parks sees no issue with shaking hands with the devil if it advances its conservation agenda – which is disturbing. 'In 2021, African Parks moved 30 southern white rhinos to Akagera National Park. This initial population has increased to 41 animals today. Building on this success, the additional 70 animals will now play a crucial role in ensuring the presence of meta-populations across the continent, presenting opportunities for future range expansion,' African Parks said. It's all about the animals! It's like African Parks is living in a bubble, completely disconnected from the odious nature of the state it has chosen as a conservation partner. But that's perhaps not surprising, given the NGO's track record elsewhere in Africa. Last month it acknowledged that some of its eco-rangers had committed human rights abuses against the Baka community in Odzala-Kokoua National Park, Republic of Congo, based on the findings of an independent investigation it had commissioned to probe the allegations. 'African Parks acknowledges that, in some incidents, human rights abuses have occurred, and we deeply regret the pain and suffering caused to the victims. There is no place for any form of abuse in the name of conservation,' it said. There may be 'no place' for this kind of abuse 'in the name of conservation'. But if the state you have chosen to host a rhino conservation project is a serial human rights abuser, there is nothing to see here, folks. The rhinos will be fine! What will grab the headlines is that this is the largest translocation of its kind. African Parks has also been involved in a previous megafauna translocation which was billed as the 'largest of its kind'. In July 2022, 263 elephants were moved from Liwonde National Park in southern Malawi to Kasungu National Park, which borders Zambia along a frontier which has no fence. African Parks has since distanced itself from this project, but it certainly claimed some of the credit at the time. As I reported from the Zambian side of the park in 2024, this misconceived translocation has transformed the landscape into one of fear and loathing for the poor rural people who live there. Human-wildlife conflict is raging there, with a mounting death toll among both people and elephants. The big critters that have just been moved to Rwanda come from the 2,000-strong herd that African Parks bought in 2023 from rhino tycoon John Hume. Largely because of the efforts of the private sector, South Africa has enough rhinos for 'rewilding' efforts elsewhere, which broadly aim to restore wildlife populations to former ranges. Rwanda, by the way, is not a former white rhino range state. It is indeed the case that much of Africa's wildlife lies within the borders of states with questionable governance or human rights records. I recently covered first-hand the translocation of South African cheetahs to Mozambique, where last year's elections were hotly disputed, sparking nationwide protests. And let's face it, the ruling Frelimo party has followed other African liberation movements down the well-trodden path of corruption and misrule. But some lines can be drawn in the sand. Mountain gorillas, for example, are only found in Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda and the DRC, and so conservation efforts for this species need to be focused in those countries, regardless of the governments in power. That is not the case with white rhinos. There are plenty of other African countries where they can be translocated to and protected. The Kigali government stands out for the sheer scale of its repression and the regional instability it has unleashed. And Kagame has an instinctive understanding of what is important to the West. The rhino project comes with the prestige he craves, adding another layer of legitimacy to his regime – which does keep the streets of Kigali clean. Kagame got 99% of the vote in Rwanda's 2024 elections and unlike in Mozambique, no one was going to raise an eyebrow about that result, let alone lead a protest in the streets.
Daily Maverick
10-06-2025
- General
- Daily Maverick
Dozens of rhinos rescued and relocated from SA reach Rwanda after two-day journey
The Johannesburg-based African Parks non-profit conservation group said the move was part of a strategic 10-year plan to rewild rhinos to safe, suitable and well-managed protected areas of Africa. After a two-day journey by air and truck, 70 captive-bred rhinos from South Africa have entered new territory in Rwanda's Akagera National Park. The translocation is part of the Rhino Rewild operation to rescue and relocate nearly 2,000 captive-bred white rhinos purchased by the African Parks group in 2023 from erstwhile Krugersdorp rhino baron John Hume. They are the first animals from Hume's captive-bred population to be relocated outside South Africa, after more than 160 other rhinos were moved to the Munywana private game reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, several private reserves adjoining Kruger National Park and the Dinokeng Game Reserve outside Pretoria. The latest destination may raise some eyebrows, considering that Rwanda has one of the highest human population densities in mainland Africa and also because similar rhino translocations to several other nations on the continent in previous decades ended with their local extinction due to rampant horn poaching. During 2018, at least four black rhinos died after being moved from South Africa to the Zakouma National Park in Chad, apparently because they failed to adapt to the plant diet in their new environment. However, the Johannesburg-based African Parks non-profit conservation group said the latest move was part of a strategic 10-year plan to rewild rhinos to safe, suitable and well-managed protected areas of Africa. African Parks, which manages 23 protected wildlife areas in 13 countries covering more than 20 million hectares, said wildlife and veterinary experts had conducted detailed risk assessments before the latest move. More significantly, African Parks moved 30 other white rhinos to Akagera National Park four years ago. This initial population has grown to 41 animals. 'Building on this success, the additional 70 animals will now play a crucial role in ensuring the presence of meta-populations across the continent, presenting opportunities for future range expansion,' said African Parks in a media statement on 10 June. As an additional measure to improve their ability to adapt to their new home, the captive-bred rhinos were initially moved within South Africa to the Munywana Conservancy. 'This preliminary stage of rewilding exposed the rhino to naturally occurring diseases such as trypanosomiasis and climatic conditions similar to Akagera,' said African Parks. The final phase of the 3,400km journey involved the rhinos being transported by truck in steel crates to King Shaka International Airport in Durban. From there, they were flown to Kigali International Airport in a Boeing 747 and finally transported to Akagera National Park by road. Complex operation 'The entire journey from Munywana to Akagera took approximately two days for each of the two groups of rhino, with continuous monitoring of their wellbeing by veterinary teams. 'Translocations are highly complex operations that demand months of meticulous planning and thorough risk assessments by world-renowned translocation and veterinary experts prior to implementation,' said African Parks. The rhinos' health and behaviour will be monitored by a dedicated veterinary team for several weeks to ensure that they adapt to their new environment and recover from any stress associated with the move. The 112,000ha Akagera National Park (established in 1934) is slightly bigger than the 96,000ha Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal, from where all the world's remaining southern white rhinos originate. Following the Rwandan Civil War and genocide of the Tutsi population, nearly 60% of Akagera was deproclaimed when large areas of the park were reallocated as farmland for returning refugees. Akagera's wildlife was heavily affected by rampant poaching, with lions being eradicated by returning pastoralists protecting their cattle. Since 2010, African Parks says it has overhauled law enforcement efforts and dramatically curbed poaching in the park. Though Rwanda's best-known wildlife attractions are the gorillas in the Virunga Mountains, made famous by Dian Fossey's 'Gorillas in the Mist', Akagera, which lies at the extreme west of the country's border with Tanzania (close to Lake Victoria), has been described as 'the last remaining refuge for savannah-adapted animals and plants in Rwanda'. Peter Fearnhead, the CEO of African Parks, said, 'We greatly appreciate the Rwanda government's partnership and visionary conservation efforts, along with the invaluable support from the Howard G Buffett Foundation, in making this translocation a reality. 'There are numerous risks that still remain, but with the safe arrival of all 70 animals, and with a dedicated Akagera park management team, they have a real opportunity to thrive. The coming months of intensive monitoring will be critical to ensuring the long-term adaptation of these rhino to their new home.' DM
