Zinave National Park in Mozambique leads a rhino renaissance

Zinave National Park in Mozambique has become a haven for the critically endangered black and endangered white rhino in a spectacular rewilding effort that has helped create the nation’s first ‘big five’ national park, making it a global tourist attraction. This turnaround is remarkable after a 16-year civil war emptied the lush landscape of wildlife.

When South Africa experienced a crisis in rhino poaching that saw more than a thousand slaughtered each year in 2014 and 2015, Peace Parks Foundation, with support from various donors, collaborated with the governments of Mozambique and South Africa to protect the rhino for future generations. Among these was the reintroduction of the iconic species in suitable habitats that have the capacity to rebuild large viable breeding herds in big, open systems under strong security and conservation management.

At Zinave, a massive operation began in 2016 to rewild the beautiful landscape crowned by massive baobab trees. To date, 2540 animals from 14 species have been relocated to Zinave in close collaboration with the Mozambique Government. The risk of rhino poaching was significantly lower in Mozambique, and so began the process of reintroducing them. Since 2022, a crash of 37 rhinos has been brought to Zinave. The happy and settled herd has produced seven healthy calves, one of which is a critically endangered black rhino. This much-celebrated event is a clear testimony of the success of the Zinave’s rewilding.

Rhino now roaming the national park for the first time in more than four decades is all thanks to a collaborative partnership between Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC), Peace Parks Foundation, and Exxaro Resources, with the support of the Government of South Africa. Exxaro generously donated the rhinos and has made a substantial contribution to the park’s operational costs, with additional funding provided by Anglo American, the De Beers Group, Geos Foundation, German Postcode Lottery, the MAVA Foundation and private donors.

The original herd of black rhinos have settled well into the sanctuary and established their territories. A gender ratio of 1:1 or more females than males is preferred for growing the herd.

Despite their habitat currently being in a drought, the rhinos are doing very well, according to Bernard van Lente, Peace Parks Foundation’s Head of Operations at Zinave. Black rhinos are browsers and their new environment has more than 200 tree species to offer them.

“What is important about having the critically endangered black rhino at Zinave is not just their presence in a protected area, but that they contribute to the development of a healthy ecosystem. Ideally, we need to bring the herd to a viable population size of 20 or more to ensure their continuation. The aim at the park is to build healthy rhino in growing numbers, to be able to establish viable populations elsewhere. In so doing, we will ensure their survival for future generations and for the health of the planet.” – Bernard van Lente, Peace Parks Foundation’s Head of Operations at Zinave

Zinave has a cohort of around 100 rangers who are well-trained in tracking and countering poaching activities to protect the sought-after species. To aid them in their difficult task, the park has a helicopter, fixed-wing aeroplanes, tracker dogs and uses cutting-edge technology. A rapid reaction force is ready to be deployed as soon as suspicious activity is detected.

“We haven’t lost any rhino in the two years since they’ve been established here, testimony to the strict security measures,” Bernard said.

By bringing back keystone species such as rhino, elephant, buffalo, leopard and lion, in addition to the 2,540 plains game species re-introduced in Zinave in the past five years, the park’s biodiversity is gradually being restored, which is good news not only for the people living in this landscape who will benefit from the park’s success, but also for the planet.

Peace Parks Foundation salutes the Government of Mozambique for its dedication to conserving nature and is deeply grateful to its supporters, donors and partners who walk this journey of restoration with us.