Very good Black Rhino news from Rwanda

At Ree Park Safari the staff has recently received the kind of news they like the most. In Akagera National Park in Rwanda, the black rhino, Mandela, has sired another calf. What’s amazing about this story is that Mandela was bred in captivity in Ree Park. Born in 2015, Mandela grew up in Ebeltoft, was then transferred to the Czech Republic and from there, as part of a small group of black rhinos bred in animal parks in Europe, reintroduced to the wild in Rwanda. Many things can go wrong in such an endeavor, but Mandela was able to thrive in his natural environment, and the new calf is his second. This is the ultimate goal of the activities in Ree Park Safari, to be able to reintroduce animals from the international breeding programs to their natural, wild habitats, thus supporting and strengthening the endangered and vulnerable species.

On the left is Mandela as a youngster in Ree Park Safari.