UWA to move 20 white Rhinos from Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary to Ajai Wildlife Reserve

The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary, a conservation area located in Nakasongola District, was established in 2005 to protect and conserve the northern white rhino and other wildlife species. Its primary goal is to establish a population of white rhinos in Uganda after the species was locally extinct due to poaching and habitat loss.

Not long ago, Uganda used to be home to both the black and northern white species of rhinoceros. But by the early 1980s, due to poaching, trafficking, and political turmoil under the dictatorship of Idi Amin, native populations once thought to number around 700  were wiped out.

More than a decade later, an initiative to bring back the majestic animals was born, with the newly formed charity Rhino Fund Uganda approaching Captain Joseph Charles Roy, former pilot and owner of Ziwa cattle ranch, which had been targeted as the prime rhino habitat, with the idea that he should move the herds of cattle out and the rhino in.

Between 2005 and 2006, six southern white rhinos were relocated to the ranch; four coming overland from Kenya and two flown over from Disney Animal Kingdom Florida on Roy’s own cargo airline. Today, there are 48 rhinos at Ziwa, with five born in the last three months. In contrast, a pair of rhinos moved to Uganda’s Wildlife Conservation Education Center(UWEC) formerly known as Entebbe Zoo at the same time have had no offspring whatsoever.

Each rhino family at the ranch is monitored day in and day out by at least two wardens, while other rangers patrol Ziwa’s perimeter fences. This deters poachers seeking rhino horns for the illegal wildlife trade, and it allows wardens to monitor rhino behaviour, gathering detailed data that can be used to inform rhino conservation globally.

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The sanctuary provides a safe environment for the rhinos, allowing them to roam freely and live in a habitat that resembles their natural environment. Visitors to the sanctuary can engage in guided walks to observe the rhinos up close, as well as participate in various conservation activities and educational programs aimed at raising awareness about rhino conservation and the threats they face.

In addition to rhinos, the sanctuary is home to a diverse range of wildlife, including over 300 bird species, reptiles, and other mammals. The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary also plays a significant role in community engagement, promoting sustainable tourism and providing employment opportunities for local residents. The ranch has lodges for tourists and offers walking safaris to see rhinos, shoebills, leopards, antelopes, warthogs and other wildlife, with the funds generated going back into rhino conservation.

It has always been Ziwa’s central mission to breed enough rhinos so that they can be relocated to other areas of the country, such as national parks where rhinos once roamed.

The challenge however is that many of the national parks are unfenced and suffer from high levels of poaching from communities living nearby, as well as the encroachment of human settlements and resulting human-wildlife conflict.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has been preparing Ajai Wildlife Reserve, which was once a stronghold of the white rhino and lies 136 miles (220 kilometres) northwest of Ziwa, for the reintroduction since 2021. But there have been several hold-ups due to a lack of funding, challenges relocating people living within the park boundaries, and a shortage of rangers.

However, these hurdles have now been overcome and UWA plans to move around 20 rhinos from Ziwa to Ajai before February 2026. The government has now got a substantial budget  and is  preparing  and  ready to move the rhinos.

This month, community members who  agreed to compensation will be relocated to new homes outside of the reserve, and in May, UWA will start constructing an electrified enclosure where the rhinos will be kept. UWA is already restoring the vegetation to make it a suitable habitat, and has started recruiting rangers, including people from the local community who will be trained from June onwards. UWA also expects an addition of eight rhinos from another African country soon, bringing its population to around 60. This new intake is much needed, to diversify the gene pool and maintain a healthy population.

if the move is successful and the rhinos start reproducing in Ajai, UWA will look to reintroduce them in Kidepo, Murchison Falls and other national parks across the country. This will not only help to enhance biodiversity, but boost Uganda’s wildlife tourism and it will show that Uganda is stable again and can look after rhinos in their natural setting.