They can be challenging, expensive and dangerous, but 2022 was a busy year for translocations and more are planned in the months ahead
Classified as “near threatened” by the IUCN, numbers of white rhino are declining across Africa, mainly because of poaching. The recent arrival of numerous babies in Akagera suggests the mission to create a new rhino haven is on track. “Translocation can be stressful for animals,” says Fearnhead. “Once babies start being born, it’s a sign the animals have settled well and are starting the process of building up numbers.”
Wildlife translocations are used to reintroduce a species to a location where they have gone locally extinct, to strengthen an existing population, or, as with Akagera’s white rhinos, to create a new population in a place they never existed before, often as part of wider rewilding efforts to restore an ecosystem. “Something right happening today to fix a wrong of yesterday,” as Fearnhead puts it.
The process is challenging, expensive and often dangerous. In July 2022, African Parks completed the ambitious move of 263 elephants, 80 buffalo, 128 impala, 33 sable, 81 warthog and 109 waterbuck from Malawi’s Liwonde national park to the country’s Kasungu national park. But it was later reported that two local people were killed by elephants during the translocation, and a third was killed by an elephant in September. “Any fatality that results from a translocation or ongoing management of a protected area is always one person too many,” says Fearnhead.
Translocations have helped revive Malawi’s national parks. In 2021, 14 African wild dogs completed a 27-hour journey from South Africa and Mozambique to Liwonde national park and Majete wildlife reserve. Majete received six wild dogs, which gave birth to eight pups this year. But in Liwonde, 18 wild dogs, including all the new arrivals, were killed in November after hunters poisoned a small watering hole to collect dead birds or small mammals, which the wild dogs then drank from. “When you have had such a big effort to undertake a complex reintroduction of a key species, one that’s highly endangered, it’s a huge blow to the whole team,” says Fearnhead.