The Government will next year import 45 black rhinos from South Africa to boost their population in local game parks. The minister for Tourism and Natural Resources, Ms Shamsa Mwangunga, revealed this during a visit to the Singita Grumeti Reserves in Serengeti district, Mara region. She said the rhinos would be a donation from Kruger National Park, the largest park in Africa. "At the moment rhinos are very few in our parks and we have evolved strategies to increase their number," said the minister. She said the black rhinos would arrive in Tanzania when the Government is ready. It was now putting in place final preparations before they are flown from South Africa. Ms Mwangunga explained that among the 45 rhinos 18 would be females. She said all the black rhinos would be preserved at the Serengeti National Park until they adopt to the environment in the area. She said at the moment there were only 100 rhinos in Serengeti while some parks had no rhinos at all due to poaching. Speaking during the event, the managing director of the Grumeti Fund, Mr Brian Harris, said in endeavours to bring back the rhinos, the company has a special programme known as 'save the rhino programme.' This involves returning the zoo-bred East African black rhinos to their homelands. He explained that in June 2007 the company purchased two captive bred black rhinos, a five-year old male and female from an animal sanctuary in the United Kingdom, (UK) and flew them to Serengeti. The two rhinos, whose predators had their origins in East Africa, are currently kept in a sanctuary. They have settled down and are completely dehumanized, he noted. He said the black rhino repatriation programme aims at contributing towards the restoration of the biodiversity of the Serengeti ecosystem.

Please log in to rate this article.

Name

Email

Website

Comment