Rwanda said on Tuesday that 70 white rhinos had been successfully relocated to the Great Lakes nation after a two-day journey of some 3,000 kilometers (over 1,800 miles) from South Africa.
It was the largest ever relocation of rhinos, which can weigh up to two tons, Rwandan officials said.
Once abundant across sub-Saharan Africa, rhino numbers have dramatically fallen due to hunting by European colonizers and large-scale poaching.
The animals were transported in two loads of 35 -- first aboard a Boeing 747, then by road -- from South Africa's Munywana Conservancy to Akagera National Park in Rwanda, or about 3,000 kilometers as the crow flies, according to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB).
A "dedicated veterinary team will closely monitor their health and behavior for several weeks to ensure proper adaptation to their new environment and management of any stress associated with the move", it said in a statement.
The move was part of African Parks' Rhino Rewild Initiative, supported by The Howard G. Buffett Foundation, and aims to support population growth and secure a new breeding stronghold in Rwanda.
According to the International Rhino Foundation (IRF), rhino poaching in Africa rose by four percent from 2022 to 2023, with at least 586 rhinos poached in 2023.
The southern white rhino, one of two subspecies, is now listed as "near threatened", with roughly 17,000 individuals remaining, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The northern white rhino has all but vanished, with only two females left alive.
