Good news on black rhino births for World Rhino Day 2020

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The Black Rhino Range Expansion Project celebrates the birth of more than a dozen calves this year.

On World Rhino Day, the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project celebrates the birth of at least 13 calves in 2020 on project sites across South Africa and in Malawi. Two of the calves are second generation, meaning that their grandmothers were among those moved to create new populations.

“This is why WWF entered into partnership with Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife nearly two decades ago,” says WWF’s project leader Dr Jacques Flamand. “It’s what we’re about. We decided to increase the range of black rhino in order to increase growth rate and numbers of the critically endangered species. It started slowly and has taken a lot of hard work and commitment from a lot of partners. Now we are starting to see the results that we hoped for.”

There are now approximately 270 black rhinos on the project’s 13 partner sites.

In November 2019, the Black Rhino Range Expansion Project undertook its first cross-border translocation when a group of black rhinos was moved from South Africa to Malawi’s Liwonde National Park.

The massive operation was a partnership between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, African Parks, WWF SA and Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife. It was the largest ever transport by air of black rhino. The animals were flown from King Shaka International Airport in Durban to Lilongwe International Airport, then driven by truck to their final new home. The rhinos have acclimatised well, and two already have calves.