Zimbabwe re-introduces rhinos in Gonarezhou park after three decades

A ranger walks behind a pair of black rhinoceros at the Imire Rhino and Wildlife Conservation Park near Marondera, east of the capital Harare. The population of the species has dwindled due to poaching activities. Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo

Gonarezhou, which means 'home of the elephant' in the Shona language, is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park with South Africa's Kruger National Park and Mozambique's Limpopo National Park.

Tinashe Farawo, the spokesperson for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, said black and white rhino would be introduced in Gonarezhou soon.

Zimbabwe now has about 1,000 rhinos after poaching decimated its numbers three decades ago, Farawo said.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter that the re-introduction of rhinos in Gonarezhou was "truly a momentous conservation achievement".

Farawo would not say how many rhinos would be reintroduced to Gonarezhou. Zimbabwe has the fourth-largest rhino population after South Africa, Namibia and Kenya.