By
Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News
25 June
2019
"It's
just fantastic.
"These
animals were taken from Africa decades ago to display to the public [in
European zoos] and now have a real conservation role in Rwanda," Mark
Pilgrim, Chester Zoo's chief executive says proudly.
He is
summing up the significance of the largest transportation of rhinos from Europe
to Africa to ever happen.
It
culminated on Monday as five zoo-born eastern black rhinos were released in the
vast Akagera National Park.
The three
females and two male rhinos, aged between two and nine years old, came from
Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, the Czech Republic's Dvur Kralove safari park and
Ree Park Safari in Denmark.
The
6,000km (3,700 miles) journey began at Dvur Kralove - where the animals have
been gathered to be prepared for the trip since late last year - and concluded
as each animal stepped out of its custom-made transport crate and into a large,
temporary enclosure in the 1,000 sq km park.
They will
remain in the enclosure, known as a boma, for several months until vets and
wildlife experts, who stay in a nearby camp, are happy that they have settled
and are ready for life in the wild.
Rhino
dating game
The
animals' journey to Akagera, via a flight from Prague to the Rwandan capital of
Kigali, took around 30 hours. But the project to bring these animals back to
Africa began years ago.
The
European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has co-ordinated what Dr Pilgrim
described as a huge "rhino dating game" and it is something he has
been running.
"All
the members signed up to move animals around, so we can match the most
compatible pairs for breeding," he said.
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