Rhinos Make Their Return to Roam Mozambique

The rhinoceros is a beast of an animal. It weighs up to 8,800 pounds and has a huge horn. So it might be hard to believe that rhinos could be close to extinction thanks to humans.

Now, in Mozambique, humans are making an effort to return the rhino to the African nation. A rhino hasn't lived in the country in 40 years. Groups of wildlife rangers are capturing rhinos from South Africa and moving them to Mozambique’s Zinave National Park. Their goal is to bring 40 white and black rhinos over the next two years.

The rhino relocation effort is headed by the nonprofit Peace Parks Foundation. It wants to keep the species safe from human poachers and return rhinos to a wild habitat. It also should boost tourism in Mozambique’s national parks.

Over the past 20 years, poachers have killed thousands of African rhinos for their horns. Many trade them on the global black market. It is legal to trade horn in South Africa now. A ban was lifted in 2017. Gangs typically use a tranquilizer gun to shoot the rhinos and bring them down. Then they hack off the horns. The rhino is left to die.  

The conservation group has already brought other animals, such as elephants, to the Mozambique park. “It's very exciting now to complete the presence of historical species in the park,” the project manager told Reuters.

He and other conservationists hope these dozens of rhinos can have babies and grow the species.  

Photo from Reuters.