Uganda receives eight rhinos from South Africa for genetic diversification

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Aboard a chartered aeroplane that touched down Entebbe International Airport on December 8, 2025, at 2:30am, were eight White Rhinos from South Africa. The animals were received by John Makombo, the commissioner for biodiversity management under the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).

Makombo represented UWA executive director and Basil Ajer, the tourism director in the ministry of tourism, wildlife and antiquities. The four male and four female gentle beasts were a donation from African Parks, a non-profit conservation organisation headquartered in South Africa and manages 24 protected areas in 13 countries.

John Makombo, the commissioner for biodiversity management under Uganda Wildlife Authority who represented the executive director while receiving the eight rhinos at Entebbe airport on Tuesday morning. (Credit: Julius Luwemba)

UWA spokesperson Bashir Hangi said the donation of rhinos is a sign of confidence in Uganda's conservation success. 

"This is also part of our national rhino conservation strategy aimed at increasing the rhino numbers," Hangi said, adding that the donation brings to a total of 59 rhinos in Uganda. 

According to Hangi, African Parks donated and also transported the rhinos to Uganda. Upon being handed over to the tourism officials in Uganda, the rhinos were transferred to Ziwa sanctuary in Nakasongola district.

Tourism director Ajer said whereas Uganda's conservation efforts have been remarkable, the country once boasted of over 1,000 rhinos before the intensive poaching and civil unrest of late 1970s and early 1980s. He said, as Uganda takes the positive trajectory of increasing the rhino numbers, community sensitisation remains key to sustain such conservation efforts. 

"Therefore, the community must feel the ownership of such wildlife as we supplement the efforts with fencing and boosting security," Ajer explained.

According to the tourism director, the donated rhinos are meant to ensure genetic diversification in order to avoid inbreeding. To this, Makombo said the latest imported rhinos will be mixed with the resident gentle beasts for mating and diversification of the genetic pool.

"Even the eight rhinos were collected from different protected areas in South Africa, so as to diversify the genes. Same way our resident rhinos were earlier got from different countries including Kenya and USA," Makombo elaborated.

He further explained that UWA is currently conducting a genetic mapping to ascertain the parenthood of the existing rhinos in order to translocate them separately. Whereas the latest addition of rhinos has been transferred to Ziwa sanctuary, Makombo said, there are still ongoing plans to translocate the rhinos to the wild where they once belonged. According to the UWA plans, Kidepo valley national park and Ajai wildlife reserve are the first candidate protected areas targeted to accommodate the first batch of translocated rhinos.



"The works to have rhinos in Kidepo, currently stand at 80% while the preparations in Ajai wildlife reserve stand at 50%," Makombo noted. Habitat manipulation, water reticulation, installing the smart-technology infrastructure for rhino safety among other efforts geared towards the staff and tourists' well-being, were pointed out as having stalled the rhino re-introduction in Ajai. The UWA officials however, remain optimistic that by the end of this year, some rhinos will have been integrated into the wide wild setting.

In regards to the care and security of rhinos, Makombo assured that more veterinary staff were recruited and sensitised on the proper management of the rhinos. "We recruited more five veterinary staff to boost the existing number and also trained a special team of UWA staff which is going to be monitoring the rhinos on a 24-hour basis, once they are re-introduced back to the wider wild landscapes," Makombo added.

In partnership with the Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), the wildlife authority ran a rhino-naming campaign on September 22, which raised over sh490m with an aim of implementing the 10-year rhino conservation and management strategy (2018-2028).  The strategy aims to achieve an annual rhino population growth rate of at least five per cent. The strategy will also see Uganda's wider landscapes such as Murchison Falls national park, Kidepo national park among others, repopulated with the once-extinct rhinoceros.