DRC Receive Rare Rhinos From SA

Sixteen southern white rhinos have been relocated from South Africa to the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Yves Milan Ngangay, the director general of the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, released a statement to the media on Saturday, 10 June, saying: “The return of white rhinos to the DRC is a testament to our country’s commitment to biodiversity conservation.”

Peter Fearnhead, CEO of the conservation non-governmental organisation African Parks, was also quoted in the press release, saying that previous efforts to save the northern white rhinos in the park had been “too little, too late”.

“This reintroduction is the start of a process whereby the southern white rhino as the closest genetic alternative can fulfil the role of the northern white rhino in the landscape,” he added.

The rhinos – which originally came from a private nature reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa – will be the first to be reintroduced to the area after the last northern white rhino was killed in 2006.

In total, 76 rhinos will be relocated over the next three years, in an effort to rebuild the population in the area, which was decimated by a mixture of illegal poaching and armed conflict.

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