Thanks to the intervention of wildlife NPO African Parks, 2 000 southern white rhino, bought from the world’s largest captive breeding programme, are destined for secure, protected game reserves in what is possibly the largest rewilding programme to date.

Of the 2 000 animals, the first batch – 40 in total – were this week translocated from the John Hume breeding operation in the North West Province to a community game reserve in Zululand.

While the Zululand Observer is privy to the name of the reserve, this information has been withheld for the rhinos’ safety.

The two-day operation culminated on Tuesday with the 40 de-horned rhinos released into a boma on the game reserve, to be closely monitored over the coming weeks.

African Parks in September bought Hume’s 7 800ha farm after he put the rhinos up for auction but attracted no bids.

This translocation was carried out by African Parks, &Beyond Phinda, Conservation Solutions and WeWild Africa, with financial support provided by The Aspinall Foundation and the Wildlife Emergency Fund.