Five critically endangered black rhinos transferred from captivity in Europe to Rwanda national park

Five critically endangered eastern black rhinos from three European wildlife parks have been transferred to a nature reserve in Rwanda.

The animals were flown 3,700 miles on Monday as part of the biggest ever transportation of rhinos from Europe to Africa.

The two males and three females will eventually be introduced into open plains to increase the genetic diversity of the park’s rhino population.

Around 1,000 eastern black rhino’s remain in the wild and they are in critical danger of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The five rhinos from European zoos and safari parks will bring the number of eastern black rhinos in Akagera National Park to 20, after others were delivered from South Africa in 2017.

More than 50 black rhinos once lived in Akagera's savannah habitat, which is considered excellent for black rhinos, but their numbers declined due to wide-scale poaching and the last confirmed sighting of a rhino was in 2007.

"The newly translocated rhinos will bolster the founder group that we introduced in 2017, contributing to the reestablishment of a robust eastern black rhino population in Rwanda," the park’s manager, Jes Gruner, said.

"This unique achievement represents the culmination of an unprecedented international effort to improve the survival prospects of a critically endangered rhino subspecies in the wild.

“Their arrival also marks an important step in Akagera's ongoing revitalization, and one that underscores the country's commitment to conservation."

Clare Akamanzi, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, said the eastern black rhinos are "crucial to wildlife conservation and biodiversity protection efforts, both in Rwanda and across Africa."

Africa's rhinos remain under intense pressure from poachers who kill them to meet demand for their horns in illegal markets, primarily in Vietnam and China.

The five eastern black rhinos came from the Safari Park Dvur Kralove in the Czech Republic, Flamingo Land in Britain and Ree Park Safari in Denmark.