Descendants of Evacuated Black Rhinos Returned to Zimbabwe’s Matusadona National Park After 30 Years

An undisclosed number of black rhinos have been flown back to Zimbabwe's Matusadona National Park on the southern shores of Lake Kariba. The animals are descendants of rhinos whose parents were moved out of the park more than thirty years ago. The return occurred on or before 4 June 2026.

Matusadona covers 147,000 hectares and was once the core area of Zimbabwe's largest contiguous black rhino population. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, gangs of Zambian-based poachers nearly wiped out the black rhino population in northern Zimbabwe.

Scores of the surviving animals were moved from Matusadona and other Zambezi Valley parks to more secure sanctuaries in central or southern Zimbabwe under an operation called Operation Stronghold.

Glen Tatham, then Zimbabwe parks chief warden, led the translocation. The move preserved both the animals and the genetic lineage of the regional population, African Parks stated. The park is now managed by African Parks under an agreement with the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority.

African Parks said some of the rhinos now returned are direct descendants of those moved out more than three decades ago.