The re-introduction of both the black and white rhinos in Akagera National Park rounded up the existence of the African Big 5 animals in the only Savannah game park in Rwanda that nearly got wiped out during the political unrest in the country in the early 1990s, especially during the Rwanda genocide of 1994 and after the genocide when the Rwandese who had fled the country came back and started clearing the park land and forests for settlement, farming, and livestock rearing.
This encroachment and resettlement led to wildlife-human conflicts that saw a big population of the black rhinos, estimated at 50 individuals (1970s), wiped out in Akagera National Park.
Most of the other individuals were lost to poaching, with the last black rhino in the park seen in 2007 before they were officially announced extinct.
Great conservation efforts by the Rwandan government under the Rwanda Development Board, partnering with different conservation organizations and safari zoos from around the world, saw the re-introduction of these endangered species back in Akagera National Park.
The government of Rwanda invited African Parks, a wildlife conservation organization, to help manage Akagera National Park and revive it to its wildlife glory days, something they have done tremendously well.
This partnership saw the first translocation of the Black Rhinos taking place in 2017, where 18 black rhinos were transferred into Akagera National Park from South Africa, 10 years after they had been absent from the Savannah park.
Two years later, five more black rhinos were transferred into Akagera National Park from different zoos in Europe. The re-introduction of the black rhinos to Akagera National Park gave a huge boost to the park’s animal diversity and an increase in the number of visitors to the park. It also created lots of different job opportunities for the Rwandan people, especially those in communities around the park.
In the year 2021, history was made when 30 Southern white rhinos were transferred from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park, marking the largest translocation of rhinos.
The populations of the black and white rhinos in Akagera National Park have steadily increased since their re-introduction as a result of the extensive conservation efforts of the Rwandan government and the African Parks management alongside other conservation organizations.
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