Ten critically endangered black rhinos have been relocated from South Africa to Mozambique to reintroduce them to the country where they were extirpated 50 years ago.
This was announced by the Peace Parks Foundation, an organization that works to restore and protect ecosystems, and was involved in the relocation.
Five males and five females traveled 48 hours to Zinawa National Park in Mozambique.
The newcomers will "secure the future of the first founding population of black rhinos since their local extinction five decades ago," said a statement from the South African Department of the Environment, which was involved in the operation.
Twelve black rhinos had previously been sent to Zinawe from South Africa, but that was not enough for breeding.
Twenty-five white rhinos, less endangered, have also been relocated on several occasions.
The number of black rhinos in the world decreased by 96 percent from 1970 to 1993, when only 2.300 survived in the wild, according to the International Rhino Foundation.
Decades of human effort have allowed the species to slowly recover and now there are 6.421 of them.
Once widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, rhinos have been nearly wiped out by hunting by European colonizers and large-scale poaching. Their horns are highly sought after on the black market, especially in Asia, where they are ground into powder and sold as an "aphrodisiac."
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