Rhinos return to Uganda’s Kidepo Valley after 43 years
Southern white rhinos bred at Ziwa sanctuary are back in a park where poachers wiped them out in 1983.
Key points
- On 17 March 2026, the first two of eight southern white rhinos were released into Kidepo Valley National Park in northern Uganda.
- Rhinos had been absent from Kidepo since 1983, when poaching wiped them out; the new animals were bred at the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary.
- If the first phase succeeds, at least 20 eastern black rhinos are expected to follow.
Rhinos are back in Uganda's Kidepo Valley National Park. On 17 March 2026, the first two of eight southern white rhinos were released into the park, the first rhinos to live there since 1983.
From extinction to return
Poaching wiped out Kidepo's rhinos more than four decades ago. The new arrivals come from the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a private ranch in central Uganda that has been breeding rhinos since 2005.
Eight animals are due to be moved in this first phase. If it goes well, the plan is to follow with at least 20 eastern black rhinos.
Restoring an ecosystem
Kidepo, in Uganda's far north-east near the borders with South Sudan and Kenya, is one of the country's most intact savannah ecosystems. Uganda's Commissioner for Biodiversity Management said the reintroduction restores a key part of that ecosystem and strengthens its resilience.
Why it matters
Rhinos are among Africa's most threatened animals. Successful reintroductions show that careful breeding and protection can bring them back to places where they had disappeared, and they can boost tourism too, much like Kenya's KenyaLIVE wildlife streams.
Sources
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