African Parks has bought the world’s largest captive rhino breeding operation in a bid to rescue and re-wild the 2,000 southern white rhino. The plight of the rhino, which represent 15% of the world’s remaining wild population, had made world headlines as South African entrepreneur John Hume was reluctantly forced to put them up for auction due to financial distress (exacerbated by a long drought that made feeding the rhino more costly).
BUFFALO DREAM RANCH, KLERKSDORP, SOUTH AFRICA, 24 MAY 2016: A group of Rhino at a supplementary feeding site at the ranch of the worlds largest rhino breeder. (Photo by Brent Stirton/Reportage by Getty Images for National Geographic Magazine.)
Hume had unsuccessfully lobbied for a legal rhino horn trade which would have enabled him to fund the rhino on his private 7,800-hectare farm in the North West province, and he hoped would’ve reduced the financial value of horns and therefore made rhino poaching less attractive.
Today African Parks announced it has purchased the operation – ‘Platinum Rhino’ – and will re-wild the rhino to safe and well-managed protected areas across Africa. The price was not disclosed.
African Parks is a conservation NGO that manages 22 protected areas in partnership with 12 governments across Africa.
According to African Parks, the auction (which began 26 April 2023) didn’t receive any bids, putting these rhinos at serious risk of poaching and fragmentation.
Given African Parks’ experience in effectively managing protected areas and carrying out wildlife translocations at scale, including bringing rhino back to Rwanda, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, African Parks was approached by numerous concerned individuals from the conservation sector to provide a solution to prevent a potential conservation crisis, and to help secure the future for a species in decline, African Parks said in a statement on Monday (4 September 2023).
After conducting a thorough due diligence and with the support of the South African Government, as well as having secured emergency funding to make the transaction possible, African Parks agreed to purchase the farm and all 2,000 rhinos.
African Parks has one clear objective: to rewild these rhino over the next 10 years to well managed and secure areas, establishing or supplementing strategic populations, thereby de-risking the future of the species. The breeding programme will be phased out and the project will end once all the rhino are released into the wild. This is one of the largest continent-wide rewilding endeavours to occur for any species.
African Parks CEO Peter Fearnhead said:
“African Parks had no intention of being the owner of a captive rhino breeding operation with 2,000 rhinos. However, we fully recognise the moral imperative of finding a solution for these animals, so that they can once again play their integral role in fully functioning ecosystems. The scale of this undertaking is simply enormous, and therefore daunting. However, it is equally one of the most exciting and globally-strategic conservation opportunities. We will be working with multiple governments, funding partners and conservation organisations, who are committed to making this rewilding vision a reality.”
Photo supplied
For over 20 years, African Parks has worked with governments and local communities to ensure that protected areas, and their vital ecosystem services, are secured for the future.
“On behalf of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, I would like to congratulate African Parks and Mr. Hume for reaching this important agreement which facilitates a conservation solution for the rhino currently in a captive facility,” said Barbara Creecy, South African Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment.
“Our Government is guided in our approach to conservation by the UN Convention on Biodiversity and our own white paper. In this regard we are ready to support African Parks and other partners with technical and scientific advice in developing a conservation solution that includes translocating the animals over a period of time to suitable parks and community conservancies in South Africa and on the African continent.”
The white rhino as a species is under extreme pressure, especially in South Africa, because of poaching. Rhinos historically consisted of two subspecies: the southern white and the northern white. The northern white rhino is functionally extinct, with just two non-breeding females in captivity in Kenya. Southern white rhino reached an all-time low of 30 to 40 animals in the 1930’s, but through effective conservation measures, increased to approximately 20,000 individuals by 2012. However, with the dramatic rise in poaching for their horns for the illegal wildlife trade, their numbers have fallen to below 13,000 today.
“The conservation sector is delighted that African Parks can provide a credible solution for this important population, and a significant lifeline for this Near Threatened species,” said Dr. Mike Knight, Chairman of the IUCN African Rhino Specialist Group. “This acquisition provides the unique opportunity to re-wild these 2,000 white rhinos for the benefit of people and rhino conservation in Africa.”
