Wilderness Wildlife Trust

The reintroduction of rhino to Botswana – initiated in 2000 – represents a successful and exciting collaboration between Wilderness Safaris and the Botswana Government. Healthy founder populations of both white and black rhino have been translocated to Botswana and released into the Okavango Delta World Heritage Site, in areas carefully selected for habitat suitability and enhanced security. We believe this is one of the most important conservation projects in southern Africa for several decades.

By the 1980s, Botswana, had experienced a complete collapse of both its black and white rhino populations. A survey in 1992 found fewer than 19 white rhino present in the wild, while the black rhino was classified ‘locally extinct’ in Botswana. This prompted the Botswana Government to take decisive action: a zero-tolerance anti-poaching policy and the relocation of all surviving rhino to fenced sanctuaries throughout the country. Thus by 1993, there were no known wild rhino in Botswana.

This meant that a substantial piece of the biodiversity jigsaw was absent from areas which were otherwise incredibly rich in wildlife. Once Wilderness Safaris was awarded the Mombo Concession, the company approached the Government with a proposal to reintroduce black and white rhino into the Okavango Delta, and the Botswana Rhino Reintroduction Project was born.

Simply put, we are dedicated to conserving and restoring Africa’s wilderness and wildlife, and we use high-end ecotourism to do this. Our model is responsible and sustainable, changes people’s perspectives on the planet, and inspires those exposed to it to effect positive change in their own lives and own spheres of influence – whether as a captain of first world industry or a goatherd in rural Kaokoveld.

For more information visit Wilderness Trust.