By Kudra Maliro
As the population of rhinos continues to dwindle, the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo has received a boost.
Sixteen southern white rhinos have been released into the park - adding to the wildlife population there. Rhinos are among wild animals facing increasing threats from poachers.
The last northern white rhino in the Garamba National Park, located in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was poached in 2006 - leaving the popular park with none. But hopes are being raised now with the provision of an alternative.
In a joint statement on Saturday, the Garamba National Park's authorities and conservation groups, said 16 southern white rhinos have been transported from a private reserve in Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa to the park in north-eastern Congo.
Joy and hope
"The return of the white rhinos to the Democratic Republic of Congo demonstrates our country's commitment to conserving biodiversity," said Yves Milan Ngangay, Director General of the Institut Congolais pour la conservation de la nature ( ICCN) or Congo Institute for the Conservation of Nature.
The exercise was carried out by the ICCN, the conservation NGO African Parks and the Canadian mining company, Barrick Gold, which sponsored the movement of the rhinos.
A video produced by African Parks shows eco-guards releasing the white rhinos in Garamba National Park a few hours after their arrival from South Africa.
"We are happy to see this species once again in our Garamba park, and we hope that tourists from all over the world will once again come to visit our region," says Maguy Nabintu, a worker with the mining company Barrick Gold Corporation, who was present during the transfer of the southern white rhinos.
"We also need to help the eco-guards to protect our flora and fauna," Ms Nabintu told TRT Afrika.
Created in 1938, the Garamba National Park is one of the oldest in Africa. But conflict, poaching and chronic insecurity in the volatile part of the Congo have decimated its wildlife over the years.
Replacements
It is a problem not limited to the DRC. According to the World Wildlife Fund, ''at the beginning of the 20th century, 500,000 rhinos roamed Africa and Asia. By 1970, rhino numbers dropped to 70,000, and today, around 27,000 rhinos remain in the wild.''
With more southern white rhinos expected to be delivered to the Garamba National Park in the future, analysts say measures should be taken to tackle the problem of poaching.
Poachers usually target the wild animals for their parts which are not only used locally but also exported. They are vital in processing food supplements, cosmetics and in both traditional and modern medicines.
Other human activities such as deforestation and bush burning have destroyed the natural habitats of the animals. The CEO of African Parks, Peter Fearnhead, said efforts to save the northern white rhinos in the DRC's Garamba National Park had been "too little, too late."
But he was optimistic that the latest reintroduction of the rhinos ''is the beginning of a process by which the southern white rhino, the closest genetic alternative, will be able to fill the role of the northern white rhino in the landscape.''
