inspiration
When reading about a landmark event like this, you may not always know the full weight behind the moment, or realise all that came before. The culmination of years of planning and work and many moving parts, it’s a testament to the power of collaboration and a vision that doesn’t waver in the face of challenges. This was the case for the recent relocation of 30 white rhinos from the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve to its southern neighbour, Gonarezhou National Park, in May. Thanks to a multifaceted operation and intricate planning by the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust, in collaboration with the Government of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, and The Malilangwe Trust , white rhinos now roam this property for the first time in nearly a century. This achievement makes a future in which a viable metapopulation is possible here, in Zimbabwe’s second-largest national park.
Although there is the occasional record of individual white rhinos in Gonarezhou up to 1992, the last viable population here probably dates back to the early 1900s. Their reintroduction to Zimbabwe began in the second half of the 20th century from KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, but until now, no attempt has been made to reestablish their population in Gonarezhou. A complex undertaking: While not the first rhino relocation to the reserve – a successful reintroduction of black rhino was completed in 2021 – this was the first that sought to move white rhinos. This marks another success in a long and close collaboration between The Malilangwe Trust and the Gonarezhou Conservation Trust over the past decade. “The rhino project is mutually beneficial because Malilangwe requires a safe destination for its expanding rhino populations, and Gonarezhou wanted to establish a viable population of white rhino in the park,” says Sarah Clegg from The Malilangwe Trust.
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