These large herbivorous mammals are among the world’s most endangered species. The black rhino is critically endangered, with fewer than 5,000 remaining in Africa, where conservationists are working tirelessly to save them from extinction.
Rhinos have long been hunted because their horns are thought to have ‘healing properties’ and are thus worth a fortune on the black market. Despite valiant efforts by local conservationists to protect them, poaching remains a major issue.
If you want to see these magnificent beasts in their natural habitat, here are five of the best places in Africa to do so.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya
Ol Pejeta, located on the Laikipia Plateau beneath Mount Kenya, is a great place to see both the southern white rhino (introduced from South Africa) and the endangered black rhino. It also houses Africa’s last remaining northern white rhinos, a pair of cows kept safe in a large enclosure. The survival of this nearly extinct subspecies, which once roamed freely in East and Central Africa, will be determined by the success of current trials in in vitro fertilization techniques and stem cell technology.
Kruger National Park, South Africa
Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s largest national parks and game reserves, covering 7,523 square miles. While visiting the Kruger National Park, you will also have a good chance of seeing a variety of other rare animals. The park is home to all five of the ‘big five’ animals (rhinos, elephants, buffalo, leopards, and lions), as well as giraffes, zebras, and wildebeest. The area is rich in natural beauty, and safaris are widely available, making it an ideal location for viewing rhinos and other wildlife in their natural habitat. High-quality safari lodging, including luxury lodges, is also widely available. So, in Kruger National Park, you won’t have to live like an animal just to see one.
Kwandwe Game Reserve
Kwandwe is a private game reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape with only 26 rooms spread across a vast wilderness area. It provides excellent wildlife viewing opportunities for all five of the Big Five. The open terrain and rolling hills allow for frequent sightings of both white rhino and the more elusive black rhino. While the former will undoubtedly provide you with some good photo opportunities, black rhinos are less cooperative – they usually run, either to flee or to charge.
Darmaland & Etosha National Park, Namibia
The Darmaland region of western Namibia is home to East Africa’s biggest population of free-roaming black rhinos. The Save the Rhino Trust offices are located on Plamwag Reserve, where conservationists work diligently to protect the black rhinos that have adapted to their desert habitat.
Etosha National Park in Namibia’s northwestern region also has black rhinos. During the dry season, when rhinos come down to drink at waterholes, you have the best chance of viewing one.
Sera conservancy, Kenya
Kenya had an estimated 20,000 black rhinos in the 1960s, but poaching had reduced this to 300 just two decades later. The black rhino population is rapidly improving now, owing to conservation initiatives, and there are currently over 600 black rhinos in Kenya, although they remain severely endangered.
The stunning Sera Reserve in northern Kenya is a big, secluded conservancy that also allows visitors to get up up and personal with these critically endangered creatures on foot. This conservancy is essentially a massive (and quite successful) Rhino Sanctuary. The 54,000 hectares has been walled and monitored to protect these archaic monsters from poachers.
Okavango Delta, Botswana
While spotting a rhino anywhere is incredible, seeing one in Botswana is virtually miraculous. In the 1980s, they were hunted so viciously for their horns that there were just 19 White Rhinos left in the wild, and no Black Rhinos. The government swiftly relocated these white rhinos to enclosed sanctuaries, and by 1993, Botswana had no wild rhinos.
The reintroduction of rhino species to Botswana, which began in 2000, was (and continues to be) an outstanding conservation accomplishment – Rhino Conservation Botswana. White and black rhino founder populations have been released into the Okavango Delta, and one of the finest sites to witness these amazing beasts is on Chiefs Island, where their numbers are growing. It’s a delight to watch that poaching has reduced.